Channel Programs, Featured Post, Security

Symantec overhauls opportunity registration system

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Handful of moneyLAS VEGAS – Along with broader changes to the Symantec Partner Program outlined at its Partner Engage 2010 show here, Symantec outlined a series of new complementary programs including an overhauled opportunity registration engine.

Like the program itself, the company’s opportunity registration system will also be revamped to provide more benefits to partners who take one or more of the company’s ten technology and market specializations, said Sue Smith, director of the company’s channel programs office.

“There are more opportunities than ever before – deals you couldn’t register before where you can earn additional margin,” Smith told attendees.

The tool goes live November 9th and will allow Silver, Gold and Platinum partners the ability to register deals that map to the specializations they hold. Partners with approved deal registrations will get an additional eight per cent discount on MSRP. And the company is adding an additional 10 per cent back-end rebate to solutions where the partner adds “technical value” to the sale. That technical value can include pre-sales services, proof of concept and solution architecture, Smith said. Symantec-generated leads now also qualify for the opportunity registration program.

Smith said the company will also double its payouts for Special Pricing Enterprise deals and for influencers, both jumping to 10 per cent from five points.

For partners who uncover deals that include opportunities not covered by their own specializations, the company is offering a partner-to-partner collaboration program.

“Not every partner who finds an opportunity can invest in all the specializations that are out there – we have a big portfolio,” Smith said. “Marrying partners who find the deals with those who can do the implementation and satisfy the customer is really important to us.”

Under the new program, the partner without the specialization gets eight points on the deal through opportunity registration, while the specialized partner that does the services gets their own margins for the services as well as a five per cent back-end rebate “in appreciation of their collaboration.”

Some other notes on new programs and offerings introduced or refined at Partner Engage:

  • Smith said the company’s Symantec IQ for Partners will make all of the intellectual property that were available to in-house resources around services available via a single Web portal.
  • Speaking of said services, North American channel chief Randy Cochran said the company has handed “hundreds of millions” of dollars worth of consulting and services over to the channel since it made the switch to partner-led consulting earlier this year. Cochran said the first three months of the switchover were “a little bit flat” but that the last three months have been “very encouraging” for the program.
  • Michael Parker, the company’s vice president of digital marketing, unveiled a digital whiteboard that he said will help partners create simple and easy to understand solution diagrams for customers or for internal use. The software is available now on Windows and Mac platforms, and Parker showed off a preview of it running on an iPad.
  • Tricia Atchison, head of channel marketing at Symantec, unveiled a new content syndication tool that will allow solution providers to add Symantec-created content on their Web sites and automatically keep it up to date with the latest relevant products, pricing and messaging.