Commvault Simplifies Channel Program, Focuses On Partner Investments

‘Our last channel program was a bit complex. We tried to reward a lot of different behaviors. It was hard for partners to figure how they get rewarded for what. Partners would have to do some serious math calculations to see what they could expect,’ says Mercer Rowe, vice president, Commvault‘s global partner organization.

Data protection and management technology developer Commvault on Tuesday revamped its channel program with an eye on helping channel partners make the necessary investments to grow their business with the company.

The changes are an evolution of a channel program that was launched about a year ago just before Commvault brought on Mercer Rowe as its new vice president of its global partner organization.

“We‘re not throwing the old one away to create something brand new,” Rowe told CRN. ”When I joined last fall, we had just launched a significant program that summer. I’m sensitive about not whipsawing partners.”

[Related: CEO Sanjay Mirchandani On Commvault Metallic And Microsoft Azure, COVID-19]

Commvault has been doing a lot to improve its channel since Sanjay Mirchandani early last year joined the company as CEO, said Adam Puccia, director of operations at CommSource, a Manlius, N.Y.-based solution provider and 10-year channel partner to Commvault.

“I like the investments the company made in things like Commvault Metallic,” Puccia told CRN. ”This shows Commvault has future-forward thinking.”

Rowe said Commvault wanted to take time to see what worked and what did not work with its channel program, and what was not generating the right outcome.

“For example, our last channel program was a bit complex,” he said. ”We tried to reward a lot of different behaviors. It was hard for partners to figure how they get rewarded for what. Partners would have to do some serious math calculations to see what they could expect. It made sense only on an intellectual level.”

Under the revised channel programs, the tiers have been simplified to make them closer together, Rowe said.

“I want partners to go up in tiers,” he said. ”I want to make it so partners can invest in and grow with the tiers.”

This includes collapsing tier discounts, Rowe said.

“I feel if the program requirements are simpler, it would not be such a jump from one tier to the next,” he said. ”We‘re also offering giving deal registration more impact. We want to make deal registration a sacred bond in the deal so partners who are not at the top tiers can get pricing to close the deal.”

The new program also offers new partner seller incentives to help ensure partners see direct mapping to how to make more money, Rowe said. This includes new growth and performance rebates, he said.

Commvault is also simplifying its growth and business requirements so that they can get their incentives and bonuses starting from dollar one of their sales, he said.

Puccia said Commvault‘s enhanced channel program is showing that the company is investing in its partners, even partners like CommSource which are at the market builder level, which is Commvault’s top partner tier.

For instance, Puccia said, with the new program, if a partner does one big deal, that does not mean it is treated better than a smaller partner selling 20 smaller deals.

“The program is a blended program,” he said. ”You need certifications, but you also need to meet certain revenue amounts. It‘s focused on the entire blend.”

CommSource has not yet taken the steps to become a managed services provider, Puccia said.

“But we‘re talking to Commvault about making the move to an MSP model,” he said. ”The new channel program will help with some new rebates that we can invest in building out our managed services.”