Channel partners will be rewarded for sales as low as $2,995 ... which happens to be the starting price point for VMware's Infrastructure 3 Foundation Acceleration Kit. Past "barriers to entry" started in the tens of thousands. The new reward models have a direct tie-in for sales staff and partner management; everyone involved in the chain of sale is rewarded. Front-line folks may even gain a bit more flexibility on price points. What does all this sales talk mean? It shows VMware is getting aggressive on SMBs. Or, perhaps, that VMware is listening when its partners have said that they can sell into this market. Or perhaps that VMware realizes it needs to broaden their base; not every data center is a data center...
The VIP Partner Program also includes a number of training opportunities for sales folks and sales engineers to get schooled up on tech and specs, plus a raft of marketing aids.
75% of VMware's revenue comes from the channel. A growing percentage of that is international.
Sales teams like to sell stuff that: 1.) Has brand name recognition 2.) They (generally) have a decent understanding of 3.) They are "incentivized" to sell via spiffs or other rewards
VMware has the first point covered and is working to address the second and third. Smart moves for an increasingly competitive market, if you ask me.I spoke with VMware last week about its recent channel initiatives. The company is listening to its partners, broadening incentives worldwide to crank up sales.