2021 Partner Program Guide: 5-Star Networking And Unified Communications Programs
As part of the Partner Program Guide, CRN designates some vendor channel programs as 5-Star Partner Programs. Here are the 5-Star designees in the networking and unified communications space for 2021.
Making The Partner Connection
IT vendors spent much of 2020 helping channel partners make their way through the COVID-19 crisis, providing financial flexibility amid the sudden economic uncertainty and creating ways for partners to market and sell their products and services in a no-contact world.
But despite the challenging year, many IT companies have continued to expand and improve their channel partner programs, offering solution provider partners the support, resources and incentives they need to be successful as the economy improves.
That includes vendors who provide hardware, software and services for IT networks, telecommunication systems, unified communications, video conferencing and more.
The CRN 2021 Partner Program Guide offers the information solution providers need to evaluate the channel programs operated by the IT vendors they work with or are considering partnering with. The guide is based on detailed applications submitted by vendors – more than 275 this year – outlining all aspects of their partner programs.
As part of the Partner Program Guide, CRN designates some programs as 5-Star Partner Programs because they provide the most comprehensive lineups of incentives, training, services and benefits.
Here we provide snapshots of the 5-Star designees in the networking and unified communications space. Details of every vendor’s partner program can be found at /partner-program-guide/ppg2021.htm.
Other slide shows in the 5-Star Partner Program Guide series running this week will include companies that provide products and services for systems and data centers, cloud platforms and infrastructure, software and applications, security, devices and peripherals, and data storage and backup. While many companies provide products and services that span multiple technologies, we’ve assigned each vendor to the slide show for the technology category in which they are most prominent.
8x8
Program Name: Open Channel Partner Program
Year Program Established: 2019
Channel Chief: John DeLozier, SVP, Global Channel Sales
Companies reveal their partner program goals for 2021: 8x8 is enabling partners to grow and retain their revenue with the company by offering training and demand generation programs specific to identifying upsell, cross-sell and retention opportunities.
Partner Program Details: /partner-program-guide/ppg2021-details.htm?c=1
Aruba Networks, a Hewlett Packard Enterprise Company
Program Name: Partner Ready For Networking
Year Program Established: 2016
Channel Chief: Donna Grothjan, VP, Worldwide Channels
Companies reveal their partner program goals for 2021: Aruba said the key to success for channel partners in 2021 is not only addressing their customers’ IT solution needs but also meeting those needs under a financial model that takes into account the pressures of their customers’ business.
Partner Program Details: /partner-program-guide/ppg2021-details.htm?c=20
Avaya
Program Name: Avaya Edge
Year Program Established: 2016
Channel Chief: Dennis Kozak, Global Channel Leader
Companies reveal their partner program goals for 2021: The Avaya Edge 2021 Program is based on three key tenants: simplicity, modernization and recurring revenue. These elements are focused on driving the collective collaboration of Avaya and its channel resellers to attain Market success.
Partner Program Details: /partner-program-guide/ppg2021-details.htm?c=26
BlackBerry
Program Name: BlackBerry Partner Program
Year Program Established: 2020
Channel Chief: Colleen McMillan, VP Global Channel Sales
Companies reveal their partner program goals for 2021: BlackBerry is focused on its ongoing commitment to a mutual partnership and enhancing partner profitability. Active collaboration between partners and the field sales force will help drive new business.
Partner Program Details: /partner-program-guide/ppg2021-details.htm?c=36
Cisco Systems
Program Name: The New Cisco Partner Program
Year Program Established: 2020
Channel Chief: Oliver Tuszik, SVP, Global Partner Organization
Companies reveal their partner program goals for 2021: Cisco is driving simplification in the partner program, finalizing the developer and advisor roles, supporting partner differentiation and transformation to a customer life-cycle approach, and maximizing the value exchange with partners.
Partner Program Details: /partner-program-guide/ppg2021-details.htm?c=45
Citrix Systems
Program Name: Citrix Partner Success
Year Program Established: 1989
Channel Chief: Bronwyn Hastings, SVP, Worldwide Channel Sales, Ecosystems
Companies reveal their partner program goals for 2021: Citrix’s goals are to enable its partners to move customers to the cloud, attract new customers and extend partner value across the customer life cycle. Citrix Partner Success is designed to be more agile, flexible and responsive to partners’ needs.
Partner Program Details: /partner-program-guide/ppg2021-details.htm?c=46
Comcast Business
Program Name: Comcast Business Solutions Provider Program
Year Program Established: 2011
Channel Chief: Craig Schlagbaum, SVP, Channel Chief
Companies reveal their partner program goals for 2021: Comcast will be delivering the products, support and tools partners need to succeed in today’s digital era. Its dedicated solutions provider team has one goal: help partners sell.
Partner Program Details: /partner-program-guide/ppg2021-details.htm?c=53
CommScope
Program Name: CommScope PartnerPRO Network
Year Program Established: 2012
Channel Chief: Dieter Verdegem, VP, Global Customer Experience
Companies reveal their partner program goals for 2021: CommScope will work on deepening recurring revenue opportunities for partners in cloud and managed services models, while continuing to seek market-share gains with traditional resell business models.
Partner Program Details: /partner-program-guide/ppg2021-details.htm?c=54
Cradlepoint
Program Name: Cradlepoint Global Partner Program
Year Program Established: 2006
Channel Chief: Eric Purcell, SVP, Partner, Alliance Sales
Companies reveal their partner program goals for 2021: Cradlepoint’s Global Partner Program will provide enablement, support and marketing resources to best position the right partners for the customer solution. It will also continue to aim to lead the way in 5G for business solutions.
Partner Program Details: /partner-program-guide/ppg2021-details.htm?c=59
Extreme Networks
Program Name: Extreme Partner Program
Year Program Established: 1996
Channel Chief: Joe Vitalone, Chief Revenue Officer
Companies reveal their partner program goals for 2021: Extreme will help migrate partners to cloud solutions and encourage them to sell a broader part of the portfolio. It also plans to continue with its effort to grow the Networking-as-a-Service model and help more partners become MSPs.
Partner Program Details: /partner-program-guide/ppg2021-details.htm?c=82
Fuze
Program Name: Fuze Global Partner Program
Year Program Established: 2016
Channel Chief: Timothy Puccio, Channel Chief
Companies reveal their partner program goals for 2021: Fuze is focused on offering unmetered calling to over 110 countries with 50-plus carriers and enterprise-grade security to deliver reliable service and protect customer data.
Partner Program Details: /partner-program-guide/ppg2021-details.htm?c=89
Geoverse
Program Name: Geoverse Partner Program
Year Program Established: 2020
Channel Chief: Bob Gault, Chief Commercial Officer
Companies reveal their partner program goals for 2021: Geoverse will continue to identify, select, train and equip elite-level partners in the industrial, transportation, oil and gas, mining, and SLED market verticals.
Partner Program Details: /partner-program-guide/ppg2021-details.htm?c=90
Gigamon
Program Name: Gigamon Catalyst Partner Program
Year Program Established: 2013
Channel Chief: Larissa Crandall, VP, Worldwide Channel, Alliances
Companies reveal their partner program goals for 2021: Gigamon is helping partners take advantage of MDF, allowing them to utilize Gigamon demand generation bundles and then supporting them with digital marketing activities to grow their pipeline
Partner Program Details: /partner-program-guide/ppg2021-details.htm?c=91
Infiot
Program Name: Infiot Partner Program
Year Program Established: 2019
Channel Chief: Parag Thakore, CEO
Companies reveal their partner program goals for 2021: Infiot wants partners to increase the amount of deployment and services that go through them and sell its broad portfolio to build their business. Education, tools, pre- and post-sales support and marketing strategies are key.
Partner Program Details: /partner-program-guide/ppg2021-details.htm?c=105
Infoblox
Program Name: BuildingBLOX Partner Program
Year Program Established: 2017
Channel Chief: Sandy Janes, Senior Director, Global Partner Programs and Operations
Companies reveal their partner program goals for 2021: Partners can expect Infoblox to continue its commitment to engage the channel as its primary route to market. This will include deeper engagement in the SaaS offering and deeper cross-functional teaming relationships and rewards.
Partner Program Details: /partner-program-guide/ppg2021-details.htm?c=106
Intermedia Cloud Communications
Program Name: Intermedia Partner Accelerate
Year Program Established: 2006
Channel Chief: Jonathan McCormick, COO
Companies reveal their partner program goals for 2021: This year Intermedia’s focus will be on creating greater awareness of its CORE (Customer Ownership Reseller) model and recruiting more partners to experience the benefits that come with it.
Partner Program Details: /partner-program-guide/ppg2021-details.htm?c=113
Juniper Networks
Program Name: Juniper Partner Advantage Program
Year Program Established: 2012
Channel Chief: Gordon Mackintosh, VP, Global Channel, Virtual Sales
Companies reveal their partner program goals for 2021: Juniper Partner Advantage will enable partners to expand their business. The new Partner Plus programs will grant exclusivity, access to field readiness enablement and additional financial incentives to accelerate enterprise sales.
Partner Program Details: /partner-program-guide/ppg2021-details.htm?c=118
Mitel
Program Name: Mitel Partner Program
Year Program Established: 2018
Channel Chief: John Lindsley, SVP, Americas Channels
Companies reveal their partner program goals for 2021: Mitel is ensuring its program gives partners the tools to enable them to expand their business and support customers. The company also is incorporating customer experience and customer lifecycle management into its framework.
Partner Program Details: /partner-program-guide/ppg2021-details.htm?c=137
Nextiva
Program Name: Partner NeXus
Year Program Established: 2012
Channel Chief: Eric Martorano, Chief Revenue Officer
Companies reveal their partner program goals for 2021: Now that Nextiva has built up a strong library of sales tools, demand generation/marketing programs and training resources aligned by partner tier, the company wants to spend 2021 customizing them for partners.
Partner Program Details: /partner-program-guide/ppg2021-details.htm?c=147
Poly
Program Name: The Poly Partner Program
Year Program Established: 2020
Channel Chief: Nick Tidd, VP, Global Partner Organization
Companies reveal their partner program goals for 2021: Partners this year can benefit from the combination of two programs into one, a new unified rebate program and a new partner portal with significant enablement tools.
Partner Program Details: /partner-program-guide/ppg2021-details.htm?c=173
QOS Networks
Program Name: QOS Networks Partner Program
Year Program Established: 2018
Channel Chief: Michael Brennan, VP, Strategic Channels
Companies reveal their partner program goals for 2021: QOS Networks plans to deliver better enablement, more resources and better education to its partners.
Partner Program Details: /partner-program-guide/ppg2021-details.htm?c=178
Ribbon Communications
Program Name: Ribbon Partner Program
Year Program Established: 2019
Channel Chief: Crystal Ferreira, VP, Channels
Companies reveal their partner program goals for 2021: Ribbon Communications is focused on partner recruitment this year.
Partner Program Details: /partner-program-guide/ppg2021-details.htm?c=187
RingCentral
Program Name: RingCentral Partner Program
Year Program Established: 2010
Channel Chief: Zane Long, SVP, Global Partner Sales
Companies reveal their partner program goals for 2021: RingCentral aims to grow its partner program internationally, add new partners to sell its UCaaS platform and help partners entrench into key verticals like healthcare, education and the public sector.
Partner Program Details: /partner-program-guide/ppg2021-details.htm?c=188
Riverbed
Program Name: Riverbed Rise
Year Program Established: 2018
Channel Chief: Bridget Bisnette, SVP, Global Partner Sales
Companies reveal their partner program goals for 2021: Riverbed this year is working to motivate partners and distributors to identify new opportunities and ensure top-tier partners have sales and technical capabilities.
Partner Program Details: /partner-program-guide/ppg2021-details.htm?c=189
Sangoma Technologies
Program Name: Sangoma Partner Program
Year Program Established: 1990
Channel Chief: David Hardy, VP, North America Sales
Companies reveal their partner program goals for 2021: For 2021 Sangoma would like to grow its channel and focus on building recurring revenue with partners.
Partner Program Details: /partner-program-guide/ppg2021-details.htm?c=197
Silver Peak Systems
Program Name: Silver Peak Global Partner Edge Channel Program
Year Program Established: 2018
Channel Chief: John Moran, VP, Channels
Companies reveal their partner program goals for 2021: Silver Peak is working on successfully integrating the Silver Peak and Aruba partner programs for a consistent experience for partners.
Partner Program Details: /partner-program-guide/ppg2021-details.htm?c=212
Spectrum
Program Name: Spectrum Partner Program
Year Program Established: 2008
Channel Chief: Michelle Kadlacek, VP, Enterprise Partner Program
Companies reveal their partner program goals for 2021: Spectrum is focused on the expansion of head count and resources for the partner program, continued automation efforts, improved portal functionality for greater partner control, and new product launches and feature improvements.
Partner Program Details: /partner-program-guide/ppg2021-details.htm?c=223
Star2Star
Program Name: Star2Star Partner Program
Year Program Established: 2006
Channel Chief: Michelle Accardi, President, Chief Revenue Officer
Companies reveal their partner program goals for 2021: Star2Star is investing more time in helping partners reach higher sales goals with new incentives, training materials, and one-on-one sales and marketing support.
Partner Program Details: /partner-program-guide/ppg2021-details.htm?c=225
T-Mobile
Program Name: T-Mobile for Business Partner Program
Year Program Established: 1999
Channel Chief: Patricia Watkins, VP, Channel Sales, IoT
Companies reveal their partner program goals for 2021: T-Mobile aims to simplify its business, deliver a broader portfolio of offerings and provide support for a better digital experience.
Partner Program Details: /partner-program-guide/ppg2021-details.htm?c=247
Verizon
Program Name: Verizon Partner Program
Year Program Established: 2013
Channel Chief: Wendy Taccetta, SVP, Global Commercial Operations
Companies reveal their partner program goals for 2021: Together with its partner ecosystem, Verizon aims to deliver a unique value proposition for business customers by helping them adapt to new business models and drive business transformation.
Partner Program Details: /partner-program-guide/ppg2021-details.htm?c=262
Versa Networks
Program Name: The Versa ACE Partner Program
Year Program Established: 2021
Channel Chief: Hemen Mehta, VP, North America Channels
Companies reveal their partner program goals for 2021: The new Versa ACE Partner Program is focused on rewarding competency and specializations. New Tiers include SASE Specialized and Titan Specialized.
Partner Program Details: /partner-program-guide/ppg2021-details.htm?c=263
Vonage
Program Name: Vonage Channel Partner Program
Year Program Established: 2018
Channel Chief: Jim Regan, Channel Chief
Companies reveal their partner program goals for 2021: With Vonage partners can take advantage of the company’s full spectrum of cloud communications capabilities and grab a bigger piece of the pie. There are a number of partner relationship options related to each product category.
Partner Program Details: /partner-program-guide/ppg2021-details.htm?c=268