Sun Microsystems has increased funds for channel marketing, effectively doubling them in some cases, and has eliminated rebates in favor of up front discounts for some deals. The changes come as Sun reaffirms its commitment to its Partner-first strategy, aligning with partner desires for more channel marketing funds and up front discounts instead of rebates.Sun Microsystems has pumped up marketing dollars available to partners and is offering new upfront discounts on Sun products to new accounts, the company announced Aug. 20.
Sun said in prepared statement that it made the changes as part of Sun' s commitment to its Partner-first strategy.
Changes include:
- An augmented Partner Growth Fund (PGF) with a new demand generation component that lets partners earn more marketing dollars, based on a percentage of their revenue.
- A New Business Incentive that offers U.S.-based Sun channel partners an up-front discount on Sun product sales to new accounts.
In some cases marketing dollars could effectively double for partners.
The changes come at a crucial time for Sun as it struggles to come to terms with a shrinking share of the Unix market that has chipped away at its top line. Sun has said that 70 percent of its revenues come from channel sales, making channel partners the most important piece of Sun's go-to-market strategy.
Separately, distributor Avnet's Technology Solutions group announced a new set of services to help Sun partners capitalize on the growing virtualization market. Services include Avnet OneTech server assessments, seminars, technical and financial support, partner training and enablement, business development, demand generation, education and solutions partnering and developing, Avnet said in a prepared statement.
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