EMC Stacks the Odds in Channel’s Favor

Originally announced last July, EMC’s
Velocity2 Incentive Program (VIP) is being
extended into 2010, rewarding partners—and sales executives within those
partner organizations—for "stacking" their awards generated from
selling select networked storage and information management software, as well
as SourceOne (information governance), and RSA
enVision and Data Loss Prevention Suite security solutions.

Kristian Thyregod, vice president of global channel marketing, tells Channel
Insider EMC decided to extend the initiative
because "the incremental business part has been overwhelming for us"
and gives much of the credit for that success to the work the company did in
advance with its channel partners. He says EMC
worked extensively with its partners to put together the right set of
offerings, and the results have been a tremendous increase in incremental or
net-new business.

"It turns out we succeeded," he says. "It’s fantastic what you
can achieve when you focus."

Prior to launching the program, EMC worked
with its various internal groups, including RSA,
as well as its channel partners, to determine the best way to architect the
program. The objective was to go after business opportunities EMC
wasn’t reaching, and the first six months has seen "a significant
incremental increase in business driven by the channel."

The VIP program extension was announced at a
business session in Vancouver for EMC’s
top channel performers from around the world.

With
VIP  the company enhanced its deal registration program and added more
incentives for partners and their sales executives who invest in training and
attaining certifications for EMC technologies. The Incremental Deal
Registration rewards partners with a 5 percent discount off the list price. To
qualify, the opportunity must be net-new to EMC.

Additionally, partners who invest in EMC Technical Architect certifications
will be rewarded with an additional 10 points. To qualify, the partner must
have a local TA working the deal, and not just fly in a TA from another
location. The time commitment is 15 to 16 eight-hour days and is delivered in a
five-step process. It consists of training workshops, online training,
technical support and coaching, along with a proctored exam. It’s offered for a
fee of about $2,000.

In addition, EMC has also renamed and revamped its Journey to the Top program.
Now called the Velocity Incentive program, partners are able to get stackable
rebates for a host of EMC technologies, including storage hardware; backup,
recovery and archive software; and security.

According to partners from Australia,
Finland and
Green Belt, Md., the program has
been a big success.

"The VIP program has really helped
Infront Systems increase our profitability through the alignment of the rewards
to EMC’s latest technology that solves
critical IT problems," said Alan King, managing director of Canberra,
Australia-based Infront Systems. "Since all of these EMC
products are part of the program and there is market demand for these
solutions, it makes it easy to identify deals to take advantage of the VIP
program."  

Mika Nyholm sales director of Proact Finland Oy, headquartered in Espoo,
Finland, agrees. "EMC
continues to show its deep commitment to the channel with its decision to
extend the Velocity2 Incentive Program that helped us improve our bottom line
for the second half of 2009. The program’s lucrative rewards enabled Proact
Finland to have additional resources to invest in our sales and services teams
to provide our customers with more value."

VIP also helped Green Belt, Md.-based
Presidio Networked Solutions expand its EMC
business "by rallying our sales teams to focus on market opportunities
that are under-penetrated and really hot right now," said Bob Murphy,
North East Division president.