EMC replaces Velocity with new EMC business partner program

NEW DELHI, INDIA: EMC, a leading provider of IT storage hardware solutions, officially retires its Velocity Partner program from 1st January and replaces it with the new EMC Business Partner program.

EMC, in May, said at the EMC World conference that its channel program would change, but provided few details at the time.

Gregg Ambulos, senior VP, Global Channel Sales, EMC, said: "The program name is changing with the new year, the complete details are slated to be released this coming May at the EMC Global Partner Summit, held with this year's EMC World. The actual program will officially roll out to partners in January of 2015."

He said to think of the EMC Business Partner program as an umbrella with the program at the very tip covering EMC's various partners. Those partners include EMC's core storage channel partners, its systems integrators, services providers, alliance partners, OEMs and RSA partners.

"Partners will be able to move dollars around different lines of business," he said. "And they can take part in multiple lines. Each line of business will have its own silver, gold and platinum tiers, each with its own requirements."

As a result, a partner might be at one tier for its storage hardware business, but a higher or lower tier for its managed services business, and a different tier for RSA, Ambulos said. However, they will be able to move their EMC program benefits between their different offerings as needed.

Outside of its EMC branded business, the company also will introduce links to companies in the EMC "federation," which also includes Pivotal, VMware and VCE, Ambulos said."Pivotal, VMware and VCE will not be part of the EMC Business Partner program, but they will have links to the program," Ambulos said. "This will provide an easier path for partners to conduct their business with EMC and our federation."

EMC also is looking at having a separate distribution program linked to the EMC Business Partner program, Ambulos said. EMC is expecting the EMC Business Partner program to be its foundation for working with channel partners over the next 10 years.

"The Velocity Partner program was introduced about 10 years ago," he said. "Velocity was platform No. 2 for us. We want to help partners transfer to platform No. 3, which is why the links to the EMC federation. We're doing everything we can to be simple, predictable, and profitable. That's our tagline."