i365 Unites Partners Under One Global Program
Consolidating EVault, MetaLINCS, and Seagate Recovery Services acquisitions supports a leveraged sales model.
By Cecilia Galvinalvin
i365, A Seagate Company, is merging its partner programs into one model. “i365 is the result of a number of acquisitions Seagate has made over the last several years to focus on data protection, data recovery and retention, and e-discovery,” says Kim Caldwell, vice president of channel sales at i365, based in Santa Clara, Calif. “The partner programs of these companies operated independently, with their own contracts and discounts. We are now integrating those partnerships and relationships into one coherent program.”
The company announced the i365 Global Partner Program on February 11. For the next 60 days, partners will continue using their existing agreements but will meet with i365 to review specifics of the global program. After that, partners will operate under fresh contracts with new terms and conditions.
As a result of the consolidation, the entire portfolio of i365 solutions will be available to partners, to assist them in selling deeper into their existing customer base and expanding into new markets. “Partners were focused on the solutions from each individual company,” says Caldwell. “Now, with the companies under one umbrella, data protection partners that have historically been with EVault can sell the e-discovery products if they choose to do so.”
The program has three categories of partners: authorized, certified, and specialized. All are compensated based on their commitment to revenue and investment and receive discounts through loyalty incentives and volume discounts. Authorized partners are predominantly rewards-based resellers that provide referrals to i365 while meeting a minimum revenue obligation. Certified partners are also rewards-based resellers that maintain skilled and certified professionals dedicated to i365. Specialized partners retain business models that incorporate i365 offerings into their service and solution offerings.†
†A new partner portal maintains an online dashboard of automated business and technical tools, resources, and services spanning the sales cycle from training, marketing, and opportunity registration through sales and post-sales support. The tools are meant to streamline the sales process for partners, and cross train them on the company’s product portfolio.
A variety of business and market development tools and resources are also available:
- Support throughout the sales cycle, such as marketing and lead support, access to a pre-sales hotline, and fee-based technical support post-sale
- Resources that include Web-based, on-demand sales and technical training, certification courses, and online ordering of co-brandable materials for print
- Communications tools such as newsletters and quarterly business briefings
In addition, certified and specialized partners have access to an assigned partner manager, sales engineers, and tech support. “Also really important is a new sales model we kicked off in January,” says Caldwell. “It’s a channel-centric model that allows our direct sales force to work with partners, and they will be compensated for channel business.”
For more information, go to www.i365.com/partners.
