Latest news with #partnerprogram
Tahawul Tech
7 days ago
- Business
- Tahawul Tech
'This approach ensures that the partner's unique strengths are recognised and rewarded'
Renton D'Souza, Vice President, Comstor MEA and Priya Limaye, Partner Organisation Lead, Cisco Gulf Region discuss the value of the Cisco 360 Partner Program in this exclusive interview. How does Cisco 360 differ from the various programs Cisco has introduced throughout its 30-year history? Priya : The new Cisco 360 Partner Program represents the most significant evolution of our industry-leading partner program in nearly three decades. It is designed to accelerate the value partners bring to customers by better addressing their rapidly evolving and complex needs – modernising infrastructure, powering AI workloads anywhere, and keeping customers' organisations secure, resilient, and high-performing. The new program reflects a strategic shift in how Cisco and its partners create and deliver value for their customers in today's fast-paced, competitive market. What objectives does Cisco seek to accomplish with the rollout of the program? Priya : The program will redefine what it means to be a successful Cisco partner measuring value over transactions: how partners serve the needs and ambitions of their customers while harnessing the collective strength of Cisco's partner ecosystem in ways that drives growth. The program will elevate partners' stature with customers and upgrade the partner experience with simplified processes and new ways to plan and track performance. For the Cisco 360 Partner Program, we invited partners into the process early to help build it. Our focus is clear: helping partners achieve predictable and profitable growth. We are shifting incentives toward areas like technology innovation rooted in campus refresh, AI and security, software adoption, renewals, and deeper customer engagement to drive long-term success. How does Cisco 360 introduce a new way to measure partner value through its Partner Value Index? Priya : The Cisco 360 Partner Program introduces the Partner Value Index, a new framework that measures the partner's contributions across four key dimensions. First, it assesses the foundational aspect, which reflects the maturity of partner's lifecycle or managed services practices. Next, it evaluates capabilities, focusing on partner's investment in technical and other skills. The framework also considers performance, looking at how effectively the partner is able to land, retain, and renew customer value. Finally, it measures engagement, examining how the partner connects with customers throughout their journey. This approach ensures that the partner's unique strengths—whether in Security, Networking, Collaboration, Cloud & AI, Services and Observability, or across multiple portfolios—are recognised and rewarded. Which new designations are included in the program, and how do they enhance a partner's value to customers? Renton: Cisco is introducing two new partner designations—Cisco Partner and Cisco Preferred Partner—to replace the Gold, Premier, and Select levels. This change is designed to showcase partner investments and capabilities, helping customers select the best partner for their needs. As Cisco transitions to the 360 Partner Program, the focus will shift from traditional Architecture Specialisations to Solution-based Specialisations. Cisco is also creating next-generation Specializations for Preferred Partners to highlight their deep technical expertise in specific portfolios or across multiple areas. How is Comstor assisting partners to achieve a seamless transition to the Cisco 360 program? Renton: At Comstor, we are dedicated to helping our partners maximise the benefits of this program. We have been actively raising awareness through training sessions, webinars, and focused discussions during our channel events. Our sales and business development teams are working closely with partners to facilitate a seamless transition to the new program. Additionally, our teams are ensuring full alignment with Cisco to co-innovate and grow together. Image Credit: Comstor & Cisco
Zawya
30-06-2025
- Business
- Zawya
HPE unveils unified program to power up profitable growth for partners
Unified Partner Ready Vantage program equips partners to resell across the full HPE portfolio and rapidly build expertise and services through expanded enablement. Partners gain full access to resell HPE's complete portfolio—compute, storage, and networking—through a single program. Enhanced incentives recognize and reward partners who drive value across the entire HPE ecosystem. Partners can grow their services business under their own brand, the HPE brand, or both—maximizing revenue potential. A modular enablement framework and expanded competencies accelerate partner readiness in private cloud, GreenLake Flex, hybrid cloud ops, and SASE. Easy enrollment and a unified experience across Build, Sell, and Service Tracks simplify how all partners engage and grow with HPE. Dubai, United Arab Emirates – HPE Discover 2025 – HPE (NYSE: HPE) today announced a single, unified partner program consolidating existing programs to enhance partner experiences across the entire HPE portfolio. All programs will combine under HPE Partner Ready Vantage, including HPE Partner Ready and HPE Partner Ready for Networking, to offer simplified enrollment, flexible participation, and comprehensive support through various program tracks. The unified program will roll out in phases, beginning with an initial launch on November 1. The design of HPE Partner Ready Vantage reflects partner input and the best practices of HPE's award-winning programs, equipping partners to build their expertise as deep or as broad as they need while delivering exceptional customer outcomes. The program supports every partner, from solution providers and managed service providers to systems integrators, independent software vendors, and beyond with an industry-leading approach to increase growth opportunities across the HPE portfolio. HPE Partner Ready Vantage is simple, with one program framework, a single compensation model, and a consistent experience. The program offers flexibility so partners can choose the relevant centers and competencies that will support their business goals and differentiation. Partners can focus on: Developing or integrating solutions Reselling consumption solutions or the HPE technologies and services Delivering other services under their own brand, the HPE brand, or both 'The new, unified HPE Partner Ready Vantage reflects our commitment to empowering partners and making it easier for them to differentiate with customers and grow their businesses,' said Simon Ewington, senior vice president of Worldwide Channel and Partner Ecosystem at HPE. 'This new program is simple, flexible and relevant, accelerating partners' ability to engage with us, and deliver innovative solutions and services that provide brilliant results for their end customers.' As part of the unified HPE Partner Ready Vantage Sell Track, partners can now easily resell the entire HPE portfolio of products and services in both operational expenditures (opex) via HPE GreenLake Flex solutions, and capital expenditures (capex) models through one program membership. Partners can choose where they want to focus and effectively drive growth in discrete technology areas like Compute, Hybrid Cloud and Networking, each having a dedicated center in the Sell Track. At the same time, partners can flexibly cross-sell across the full solutions portfolio, opening new growth opportunities. Partners obtain core product training and certifications based on requirements in each center, and through optional competencies can develop specialized expertise in areas like Private Cloud, HPE GreenLake Flex, Hybrid Cloud Operations and SASE to differentiate themselves in the market. Partner enablement is at the forefront to deliver on HPE's customer first, partner centric commitment by ensuring partners have the training, certifications, competencies and tools to continually develop and enhance their capabilities, giving customers the assurance they are working with the most qualified partners to meet their needs. New competencies and certifications give partners access to adjacent markets to pursue new business areas and enable them to drive outstanding customer outcomes and helps promote and differentiate HPE partners in the market. New and updated competencies and certifications are: HPE Solutions for AI competency verifies that partners can describe, size, quote, design, and configure HPE Private Cloud AI with NVIDIA technologies based on customers' AI requirements. HPE Solutions for Sovereign Cloud competency helps partners understand the benefits of digital sovereignty and recognize the importance of regulatory compliance and security in operating sovereign environments and handling sensitive data. Partners become experts in the components and benefits of the HPE Sovereign Cloud reference architecture. HPE Morpheus VM Essentials Software certification allows partners to expand their skills with the VM Essentials continuous learning badge and the HPE Product Certified – VM Essentials certification. These activities also offer a way for partners to achieve both Private Cloud solutions and Hybrid Cloud solutions competencies. HPE Aruba Networking Private 5G competency provides partners with expertise in developing solutions that streamline private cellular and integrate it with Wi-Fi. As an example, HPE GreenLake Flex is fully integrated within the Sell Track, Hybrid Cloud Center, and is available to resell in an as-a-service business model. Additionally, competencies are available for partners who want to specialize in driving as-a-service business based on HPE GreenLake Flex which is an opportunity for small to mid-size partners given the strong momentum in the market for this solution. In addition to the unified partner program under Partner Ready Vantage, HPE is also announcing: HPE CloudPhysics Plus and new assessment and migration tools empower partners in modernizing and optimizing IT estates Expanded AI opportunities help more partners establish AI practices for long-term growth New HPEFS financing option available to partners for HPE Private Cloud AI developer system HPE Smart Choice offers ready-to-go data center solutions, opening significant opportunity for partners to serve SMB and mid-market customers Turnkey solutions allow partners to assess multicloud, multi-vendor infrastructure, make recommendations and easily migrate workloads The new HPE CloudPhysics Plus assessment tool allows partners to provide intelligent recommendations for helping customers optimize their IT across on-premises, multicloud, and cloud-native environments – including Hyper-V, bare metal, Kubernetes, and public cloud environments. HPE CloudPhysics Plus will be available for free in the fourth quarter of FY2025. Partners can sign up through GreenLake cloud. The rapid migration tool enables partners to deliver high-value services such as workload assessments, tailored recommendations, and seamless migrations for their customers. The tool currently supports several migrations, with the new capability of migration to VM Essentials available in July. In combination with the virtualization alternative assessment tool, the rapid migration tool performs a comprehensive migration feasibility analysis and delivers insights to optimize and modernize environments. The rapid migration tool is available for free to partners enrolled in the HPE Partner Ready Vantage Professional Services center. A I Focus partners and learning opportunities expansion allows more partners to build and scale AI practice Initially launched in 2024 as part of the NVIDIA AI Computing by HPE portfolio, HPE is expanding AI Focus partners' reach to 20 additional countries, including targeting untapped regions and markets through distribution partners. AI Focus partners equips partners with essential tools and support to build and scale their AI practices effectively. More partners will have access to AI readiness assessments, accelerated enablement, and co-investments to drive demand generation, support building their AI practice, or accelerate deals. Additionally, HPE has designed a comprehensive set of learning opportunities and workshops to further equip partners with the knowledge, tools, and strategies to grow their AI practices and drive their business forward. Partners will gain access to HPE technologies, tools, and technical expertise to learn and practice configuring, demonstrating, and troubleshooting in real-world scenarios. AI Acceleration Workshops have been updated to include strategies for building an AI practice and include insights into the latest AI trends and opportunities such as agentic AI and physical AI. NVIDIA will be integrated into the AI acceleration workshops including access to NVIDIA subject-matter experts and resources for AI practice building. These workshops will continue to follow the standard AI practice-building framework with the customization needed to suit partners' specific business models and needs. HPE Financial Services extends partner financing option on HPE Private Cloud AI developer system For a limited time, HPE Financial Services (HPEFS) is offering partners a reduced-rate financing option on the HPE Private Cloud developer system which allows them to spread the total cost over 36 months. HPE Private Cloud AI developer system delivers an instant AI development environment providing everything a developer needs to prove and scale AI workloads. This offer enables partners to showcase the system's versatility to customers without incurring significant upfront purchase costs. HPEFS also supports partners through a variety of limited-time programs that they can offer to their customers. These programs can help partners reduce or defer payments on a variety of technologies. HPE Smart Choice program streamlines SMB and mid-market data center opportunities for partners HPE Smart Choice is now globally available exclusively through the channel, providing partners with ready-to-go data center solutions targeting small and medium business (SMB) and mid-market customers. With fixed pricing, curated SKUs, and structured ordering processes, HPE Smart Choice simplifies the purchasing process and results in faster sales cycles and improved alignment with customer buying patterns. Partners also benefit from comprehensive training and promotional assets to help position and sell HPE Smart Choice effectively. The program currently includes top-selling configurations from HPE ProLiant Compute servers, HPE MSA and tape storage systems, along with HPE Tech Care Services. HPE Smart Choice is expanding with the addition of HPE Compute Ops Management (COM) and HPE Morpheus VM Essentials, enabling partners to deliver even more complete and competitive solutions to their customers. "Preconfigured options are exactly what our online customers are looking for - solutions that are easy to understand, ready to deploy, and available for fast shipping,' said Kevin Samuels, director of E-Commerce Brand and Content Management at BlueAlly. 'These Smart Choice SKUs allow us to fulfill and process orders quickly, getting the product into the hands of customers faster and more efficiently than ever before. That speed and simplicity make a big difference in today's competitive online marketplace, where expectations around convenience and delivery are higher than ever." About HPE HPE is a leader in essential enterprise technology, bringing together the power of AI, cloud, and networking to help organizations achieve more. As pioneers of possibility, our innovation and expertise advance the way people live and work. We empower our customers across industries to optimize operational performance, transform data into foresight, and maximize their impact. Unlock your boldest ambitions with HPE.
National Post
26-06-2025
- Business
- National Post
Mitel Launches Enhanced Global Partner Experience to Fuel Hybrid Communications Growth
Article content New partner program and experience streamlines tools, resources, and incentives by aligning partner success with Mitel's strategy to lead in hybrid communications Article content OTTAWA, Ontario — Mitel, a global leader in business communications, today introduced a new global partner experience designed to empower partners to grow alongside Mitel as it accelerates its hybrid communications strategy. The program unifies Mitel and Unify partner ecosystems under a single, modern framework, delivering a simplified, scalable experience backed by streamlined tools, harmonized incentives, and integrated systems. Article content Mitel is making strategic investments to better support how partners engage, sell, and grow as the global unified communications (UC) and contact center markets experience rising demand for hybrid solutions. This is driven by a customer need for a better way to address the complexity of managing and controlling the adoption of emerging technologies like AI, the realities of managing data privacy and security threats, and mitigating any risk of business disruption. To help partners capitalize on this market opportunity, Mitel is improving tools, expanding marketing and demand generation programs, enhancing partner and sales enablement, and deepening customer engagement. With a strong portfolio already in place, Mitel is focused on equipping its ecosystem to execute more effectively and capture the growing opportunity in hybrid communications. Article content 'This new global experience demonstrates our commitment to growing with our partners,' said David Petts, Chief Sales Officer at Mitel. 'By simplifying how we work together and enabling greater scale across SMB, mid-market, and enterprise opportunities, we're building a channel strategy that's clear, focused, and built for long-term success. When our partners grow, Mitel grows, and we enable better business outcomes for our customers. Together, we're positioned to lead in one of the most dynamic segments of business technology.' Article content Complexity is Driving Demand for Hybrid Communications Article content Business communications are evolving rapidly as organizations prioritize secure, resilient, and highly specialized infrastructure across diverse industries and user types, from frontline workers and remote employees to dispatchers and clinical teams. As complexity grows, so does the need for deployment models that offer more control over technology adoption, security, and resiliency. Across industries and company sizes, customers are demanding communication strategies that offer greater choice, control, and protection of existing investments. This is leading to a clear shift away from one-size-fits-all models and toward hybrid and multicloud strategies. Article content 92% of IT leaders in the US and Europe are prioritizing hybrid communications (2024 global survey of 1,954 organizations conducted by Mitel and Techaisle) 86% of organizations expect to rely on hybrid or multicloud environments, with 39% highlighting the need for an equal blend of integrated premise and cloud solutions (Frost & Sullivan) Article content Mitel's hybrid portfolio, managed services, global scale, and 6,000+ partner community positions the company to lead through this market transformation and positions its partners for outsized growth in this next phase of market evolution. Article content 'As enterprise communications become more complex, organizations are gravitating toward providers that offer both flexibility and depth, especially in hybrid environments,' said Zeus Kerravala, Principal Analyst of ZK Research. 'Mitel is uniquely positioned to lead in this space, with a strong portfolio, deep global footprint, and a proven track record in mission-critical deployments. The launch of this unified partner experience is a clear signal of Mitel's ongoing commitment to its channel and its recognition that partners are central to capturing the next wave of enterprise growth.' Article content The New Partner Experience Article content The global partner experience reflects Mitel's commitment to delivering value across four key dimensions of its channel strategy: Article content Expanding Market Focus – Enabling partners to serve customers better and to strengthen hybrid offerings that make communication easier for everyone in an organization, from the frontlines to the back office. Innovation & Incumbent Advantage – Supporting customer expansion through differentiated hybrid solutions, including Mitel CX and Mitel's Hybrid Zoom Experience Global Partner Program – A single, integrated program that enables higher-revenue opportunities through cross-sell motions and enhanced customer success offers [ie, SWA and managed services] Simplified Partner Experience – Optimizing toolchain, processes, and digital resources to increase partner engagement, speed, and efficiency Modern PRM Platform – A centralized Salesforce Communities portal for access to deal registration, enablement materials, training, and support for easier, faster engagement Article content The rollout of the new partner experience is currently underway. Full integration and access for all partners will be phased throughout 2025. For more information about Mitel's partner program, please visit the program page on Article content About Mitel Article content Mitel is a global leader in business communications, providing businesses with advanced communication, collaboration, and contact center solutions. With more than 70 million users across over 100 countries, Mitel empowers organizations to connect, communicate, and collaborate seamlessly, with the flexibility and choice they need to thrive, both now and for the future. Through proven experience and innovative solutions, Mitel delivers communications without compromise. For more information, go to and follow us on LinkedIn and X @Mitel. Article content Article content Article content Article content Article content
