Datto Inc.†has rolled out a new and significantly re-tooled partner program with new tiers, measurement criteria, and benefits.
Called simply the Datto Global Partner Program, the new offering replaces the Norwalk, Conn.-based business continuity†and now SMB networking†vendor’s earlier Partner Plus program, which had been in place 4 years.
“We analyzed our current program as it stands and felt that as our clients grow, as Datto grows, as the business and the community itself grows, that we needed to enhance the current program that we have in place,” says Sue MacGregor, Datto’s director of partner marketing.
Significantly, the new program determines which tier partners slot into based on how much monthly recurring revenue they generate on Datto products, including the new Datto Networking solution. Partner Plus based membership levels on how many terabytes of data resellers stored in Datto’s cloud backup repository.
“We’re not just a storage company anymore so we’ve seen a huge need to change how we benchmark our partners in the program,” says Datto partner marketing manager Samantha Ciaccia.
The new program includes four tiers in all. The lowest is the Business tier, which includes about 58 percent of Datto’s channel. Then come a Professional tier containing the next 30 percent of partners, an Enterprise tier for the 10 percent above that, and a Blue level for the top 2 percent.
Partner Plus members will receive emails today informing them which of those tiers they belong to. According to Ciaccia, resellers placed in a lower tier will retain the same account management as before and receive equal or better resources and incentives.
“The really cool thing about this program is that partners are not going to be losing any benefits or rewards at all no matter where they’re placed in the new program because we’ve done a really great job of just improving and adding benefits rather than taking any away,” she says.
Members of the top-of-the-pyramid Elite level in Partner Plus could eventually lose access to free shipping on Datto products, however, if they drop to a lower level. Datto will continue offering them that perk for at least the next year regardless of their status in the new program.
Blue level members will receive VIP support through a dedicated technician available to them via a private 800 number. That’s a benefit Datto has never provided any of its partners before.
“The Datto rep really knows their fleet in and out, their historical patterns, and can really help them drive efficiency from a management perspective,” Ciaccia says.
Also new to the Global Partner Program and available to partners at all levels is a marketing automation platform named MarketNow. Datto provided white papers, brochures, and other collateral to its resellers before, but MarketNow adds functionality for designing and executing demand generation campaigns. The system integrates with the ConnectWise Manage and Autotask PSA solutions as well, so users can both upload customer data and download sales lead information automatically.
Global Partner Program members also receive benchmark analysis data showing them how they stack up against the company’s top 100 partners, advanced sales training, and expanded access to not-for-resale demo products. Partner Plus limited demo units to one Datto product per reseller.
“Now partners will have access to one product per product family in the portfolio,” Ciaccia says. Those include Datto’s SIRIS backup appliances, NAS devices, and Datto Networking solutions.
Datto currently has about 5,000 partners in 77 countries. Partner Plus was open to all of them, but the program had country-by-country nuances. Its replacement is Datto’s first partner program with a single, consistent set of global requirements and benefits.
In a†recent interview with†ChannelPro, Datto CEO Austin McChord hinted that the company’s recent foray into networking could presage expansion into additional markets from its base in business continuity and disaster recovery. According to MacGregor, the Global Partner Program is designed to accommodate such moves, should they occur.
“It will leave a lot of flexibility for the future and whatever else we decide to offer,” she says.
