2014 Partner Programs Guide: 5-Star Cloud Vendors (Part 2)
Head In The Clouds
The IT industry continues to evolve at a rapid pace: cloud computing, mobile computing, big data, the Internet of Things and software-defined, well, just about everything. The challenge for solution providers is identifying the opportunities and threats posed by the new computing technologies and, if possible, capitalize on them. And that can mean an increased need for technical, marketing, sales and financial assistance from the IT vendors solution providers partner with.
The 2014 Partner Programs Guide offers the information solution providers need to evaluate IT vendors they work with or are considering working with. The guide is based on detailed applications vendors submitted outlining all aspects of their partner programs.
As part of the Partner Program Guide, The Channel Company designates some programs as 5-Star Partner Programs. Here we present the second of two parts of the 5-Star designees in the cloud computing space.
Lenovo
Program Name: Lenovo Partner Network
Year Program Established: 2006
Number of North American Partners: 29,000
North American Channel Chief: Chris Frey
MaaS360 by Fiberlink, an IBM Company
Program Name: MaaSters Partner Program
Year Program Established: 2011
Number of North American Partners: 350
North American Channel Chief: Francois Daumard
URL: www.maas360.com
McAfee, an Intel Company
Program Name: McAfee SecurityAlliance Partner Program
Year Program Established: 2005
Number of North American Partners: 6,590
North American Channel Chief: Fernando Quintero
URL: www.mcafee.com
Mellanox Technologies
Program Name: Mellanox PartnerFIRST Program
Year Program Established: 2008
Number of North American Partners: 800
North American Channel Chief: Darrin Chen
URL: www.mellanox.com
Microsoft
Program Name: Microsoft Partner Network
Year Program Established: 2010
Number of North American Partners: 110,000
North American Channel Chief: Jenni Flinders
URL: www.microsoft.com
Mimecast
Program Name: Mimecast Partner Program
Year Program Established: 2011
Number of North American Partners: 170
North American Channel Chief: Sean Broderick
URL: www.mimecast.com
Motorola Solutions
Program Name: PartnerEmpower Program
Year Program Established: 2010
Number of North American Partners: 3,642
North American Channel Chief: Mike deVente
N-able by SolarWinds
Program Name: N-able by SolarWinds Channel Partner Program
Year Program Established: 2001
Number of North American Partners: 1,600
North American Channel Chief: Mike Cullen
URL: www.n-able.com
NCR
Program Name: NCR Interact Global Partner Program
Year Program Established: 2011
Number of North American Partners: 359
North American Channel Chief: Kathy Damiani
URL: www.ncr.com
NEC Display Solutions
Program Name: NEC Partner Net
Year Program Established: 2002
Number of North American Partners: 3,727
North American Channel Chief: Ashley Flaska
URL: www.necdisplay.com
NetApp
Program Name: NetApp Partner Program
Year Program Established: 2002
Number of North American Partners: 1,020
North American Channel Chief: Regina Kunkle
URL: www.netapp.com
NetSuite
Program Name: NetSuite Solution Provider Program
Year Program Established: 2002
Number of North American Partners: 169
North American Channel Chief: Craig West
URL: www.netsuite.com
OnRamp
Program Name: Fast Lane Partner Program
Year Program Established: 2013
Number of North American Partners: 30
North American Channel Chief: Ryan Scott
URL: www.onr.com
Oracle
Program Name: Oracle PartnerNetwork Specialized
Year Program Established: 1999
Number of North American Partners: 5,330
North American Channel Chief: Rich Geraffo
URL: www.oracle.com
Palo Alto Networks
Program Name: NextWave
Year Program Established: 2008
Number of North American Partners: 600
North American Channel Chief: Tracy Pallas
Polycom
Program Name: Choice Partner Program
Year Program Established: 2009
Number of North American Partners: 3,418
North American Channel Chief: Barb Huelskamp
URL: www.polycom.com
Progress Software
Program Name: Progress Partner+
Year Program Established: 2001
Number of North American Partners: 581
North American Channel Chief: Kimberly King
URL: www.progress.com
Pure Storage
Program Name: Pure Storage Partner Program (P3)
Year Program Established: 2012
Number of North American Partners: 100
North American Channel Chief: Michelle Graff
URL: www.purestorage.com
QLogic Corporation
Program Name: Signature Partner Program
Year Program Established: 2000
Number of North American Partners: 2,431
North American Channel Chief: Ryan Klein
URL: www.qlogic.com
Red Hat
Program Name: Red Hat Partner Program
Year Program Established: 2006
Number of North American Partners: 1,220
North American Channel Chief: Jerry Lumpkin
URL: www.redhat.com
Riverbed Technology
Program Name: Riverbed Performance Partner Program
Year Program Established: 2004
Number of North American Partners: 763
North American Channel Chief: Randy Schirman
URL: www.riverbed.com
Ruckus Wireless
Program Name: Ruckus Big Dog Partner Program
Year Program Established: 2007
Number of North American Partners: 3,027
North American Channel Chief: Ron Gill
RSA
Program Name: RSA SecurWorld Program
Year Program Established: 2004
Number of North American Partners: 1,020
North American Channel Chief: Tom Weldon
URL: www.emc.com/rsa
Sage North America
Program Name: Sage Partner Advantage Program
Year Program Established: 2003
Number of North American Partners: 1,271
North American Channel Chief: Joe Langner
URL: www.sage.com
Salesforce.com
Program Name: Salesforce.com Partner Program
Year Program Established: 2003
Number of North American Partners: 6,353
North American Channel Chief: Ron Huddleston
URL: www.salesforce.com
Samsung Electronics America
Program Name: STEP (Samsung Team of Empowered Partners)
Year Program Established: 2014
Number of North American Partners: 12,000
North American Channel Chief: Richard Hutton
SAP
Program Name: SAP PartnerEdge Program
Year Program Established: 2006
Number of North American Partners: 2,950
North American Channel Chief: John Graham
Seagate Technology
Program Name: Seagate Partner Program
Year Program Established: 2005
Number of North American Partners: 12,000
North American Channel Chief: John Casalaspi
URL: www.seagate.com
ServiceKey
Program Name: Independent Service & Maintenance Organization (ISMO Program)
Year Program Established: 2004
Number of North American Partners: 225
North American Channel Chief: Danielle Thiery
URL: www.servicekey.com
Silicon Graphics International
Program Name: SGI Channel Network Program
Year Program Established: 2009
Number of North American Partners: 200
North American Channel Chief: Alison Ryan
URL: www.sgi.com
ShoreTel
Program Name: ShoreTel Champion Partner Program
Year Program Established: 2002
Number of North American Partners: 800
North American Channel Chief: Sam Koury
URL: www.shoretel.com
Siemens PLM Software
Program Name: Americas Channel Partner Program
Year Program Established: 2007
Number of North American Partners: 85
North American Channel Chief: Kevin Piccola
SimpliVity
Program Name: SimpliVity Channel Program
Year Program Established: 2012
Number of North American Partners: 109
North American Channel Chief: Rich Shea
URL: www.simplivity.com
Sonus Networks
Program Name: Sonus Partner Assure
Year Program Established: 2012
Number of North American Partners: 101
North American Channel Chief: Joe McLaughlin
URL: www.sonus.net
Soonr
Program Name: Soonr Success Partner Program
Year Program Established: 2013
Number of North American Partners: 102
North American Channel Chief: Victoria Grey
URL: www.soonr.com
Sophos
Program Name: Sophos Partner Network
Year Program Established: 2006
Number of North American Partners: 2,172
North American Channel Chief: Kendra Krause
URL: www.sophos.com
Star2Star Communications
Program Name: Star2Star Certified Partner program
Year Program Established: 2006
Number of North American Partners: 833
North American Channel Chief: Colin Johnston
URL: www.star2star.com
Steelwedge Software
Program Name: Steelwedge Partner Program
Year Program Established: 2013
Number of North American Partners: 15
North American Channel Chief: Michelle Jones
URL: www.steelwedge.com
StorageCraft Technology
Program Name: StorageCraft Profit-Ability Partner Program
Year Program Established: 2011
Number of North American Partners: 8,922
North American Channel Chief: Fred Trovato
URL: www.storagecraft.com
Symantec
Program Name: Symantec Partner Program
Year Program Established: 1999
Number of North American Partners: 9,581
North American Channel Chief: John Eldh
URL: www.symantec.com
Tarmin
Program Name: Tarmin Overdrive Program (TOP)
Year Program Established: 2012
Number of North American Partners: 10
North American Channel Chief: Peter Cmaylo
URL: www.tarmin.com
Trend Micro
Program Name: Trend Micro PartnerPLUS Program
Year Program Established: 1998
Number of North American Partners: 6,000
North American Channel Chief: Partha Panda
URL: www.trendmicro.com
Unify
Program Name: Go Forward Partner Program
Year Program Established: 2008
Number of North American Partners: 136
North American Channel Chief: Bill Przybylinski
URL: www.unify.com
Unitrends
Program Name: UniRewards Partner Program
Year Program Established: 2012
Number of North American Partners: 1,090
North American Channel Chief: Bob Gagnon
URL: www.unitrends.com
Verizon
Program Name: Verizon Partner Program
Year Program Established: 2013
Number of North American Partners: 1,135
North American Channel Chief: Joe Chuisano
ViewSonic
Program Name: Finch Club
Year Program Established: 2008
Number of North American Partners: 15,000
North American Channel Chief: Brian Igoe
URL: www.viewsonic.com
Virtual Instruments
Program Name: Virtual Instruments Partner Program
Year Program Established: 2011
Number of North American Partners: 62
North American Channel Chief: Sean Maxwell
Vision Solutions
Program Name: Vision Solutions Partner Community
Year Program Established: 2003
Number of North American Partners: 1,300
North American Channel Chief: Ron Gabin
VMware
Program Name: VMware Partner Network
Year Program Established: 2003
Number of North American Partners: 17,585
North American Channel Chief: Frank Rauch
URL: www.vmware.com
Xerox
Program Name: Xerox Peak Partner Program
Year Program Established: 2000
Number of North American Partners: 8,500
North American Channel Chief: Tom Gall
URL: www.xerox.com