CommVault Beefs Up Its Channel Program

Looking to bolster its appeal among channel partners, CommVault, a provider of data protection and management software and systems, has broadened  its PartnerAdvantage channel program to include greater rewards for the company’s most loyal partners and a new channel program for service providers.

The new MarketBuilder program is designed provide additional rebates and margins to partners that commit to attaining explicit new customer and business growth goals, said Ralph Nimergood, vice president of worldwide partners and programs.

“MarketBuilder is an invitation-only program,” said Nimergood. “We want to reward partners that choose to go deep and wide with us.”

At the same time, CommVault wants to encourage partners to deliver cloud storage offerings around its data management software and backup and recovery systems, he said.

Having that program is not only critical for expanding CommVault’s reach into emerging alternative channels; it also reflects the fact that CommVault business partners are now managing business models that span everything from reselling products to delivering cloud services, Nimergood said.

Jed Ayres, chief marketing officer for MCPc, a CommVault channel partner, said the expansion of the CommVault program is an example of how smaller vendors are starting to extend their channel programs to make them more appealing to channel partners.

“They’re building a more mature channel,” Ayres said. “They’re now punching above their weight class.”

In addition to expanding the channel program, CommVault has also enhanced its training offerings and refreshed its online portal.

CommVault’s Nimergood said the company has spent the last several months putting the policies and governance in place to run a channel program on a truly global scale.

“We’ve been putting the rigor and adult supervision needed,” says Nimergood. “The channel needs to know there are rules of engagement in place.

Michael Vizard has been covering IT issues in the enterprise for 25 years as an editor and columnist for publications such as InfoWorld, eWEEK, Baseline, CRN, ComputerWorld and Digital Review.