Commvault's global channel boss says new programme overhaul makes deal registration 'sacred'

Commvault has revamped its partner programme, in a move its global channel boss says removes partner confusion over exactly what profits they can expect from doing business with the vendor.

Mercer Rowe (pictured) has told CPI that through the nine months he's led the US data management vendor's go-to-market strategy, partners have been clear with him on what they wanted to see change.

"I believe in the last program the challenge was that it was just complicated," he said.

"In reality, it was difficult for partners to be able to say on a deal by deal basis, what am I going to make here? What is my opportunity for profitability, for example, at the end of the year?"

Commvault's new partner advantage program has reduced its previous four disparate geographic partner programmes to two: North America, and rest of the world.

"We had four different criteria that changed as partners moved from one of those to the next. Previously, our partners working in more than one geography would have to figure out which tier, and which system they needed to look at. And then which thresholds to calculate against. Now we've just made it much more simple."

Across both geographies, the vendor still retains its three partner tiers.

However, Mercer has changed the part of the sales process Commvault values most.

"Previously partners who wanted to invest in moving up a tier mainly did so based on bookings. Now that's based on investments. So partners who spend their time and energy getting people certified in Commvault technologies plays a bigger part in movement between tiers."

Mercer added that partners on the vendor's lowest tier will have their deal registrations protected, even from higher-tier rivals, as part of a "making deal registration sacred" ethos.

"We are focusing a lot more on deal registration, so a partner at the lowest tier who registers a deal is still able to be guaranteed the highest margin protection on that deal, even if a partner in a higher tier happens to bid on that opportunity."

The final big change in Mercer's partner reward strategy is in MDF.

"We have also moved from an accrual-based development fund system to proposal-based, which is a much more modern way to support co-marketing and co-investments. It will allow us to invest in leading edge partners and activities as opposed to accruing funds based on past activity."

Yet, despite Mercer's optimism about the vendor's updated programme, he conceded that there are serious balance sheet concerns for some within his network.

 "We have certainly seen an uptick in the requests for extended payment terms," he said.

"And we obviously want to support them and have them continue to be partners of ours going forward. Because when things come back, that's when those who treat each other well are rewarded, not those who try to gouge."

However, Mercer is anticipating consolidation within his partner community.

"That's my belief that this is going to be the outcome versus just purely having companies exit the market."

He added:

"If I was in a mode where I was trying to gain a bunch of new partners, I might be more worried about it, but I actually have a pretty good partner base. I have over 5000 partners…

"And this allows us to be to jointly invest with those partners who are looking at Commvault as a strategic partner in the market."

 

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• Topics
• Vendor
• Commvault
• new partner programme
• Data protection
• data management
• US
• North America
• Mercer Rowe