Maxta has also enhanced its partner program to recognize the new offerings’ ability to better build a practice around Maxta
Yoram Novick, Maxta’s founder and CEO
Sunnyvale CA-based Maxta has been selling its MxSP VM-centric software storage platform, which converts standard servers into a converged compute and storage solution, since late 2013. Now it is announcing the available of MaxDeploy reference architectures which allow partners to offer preconfigured and pre-validated hyper-converged solutions. They are available for all Tier One server vendors, as well as for Intel and SuperMicro white label servers. Maxta has also enhanced its channel program, creating a new elite tier, for partners who will offer Level One and Two support and build a practice around Maxta.
“We began by selling our MxSP software to leverage standard servers to provide convergence benefits, but we found out that from a customer point of view, while some customers love this, others do not,” said Yoram Novick, Maxta’s founder and CEO. “Service providers want to buy software for this. They are not going to buy an appliance. The same for financials and other buyers that want the latest and greatest. But many organizations — enterprises and midmarket and SMB — are very concerned about deploying software on any kind of server, because they fear that it might not work. They prefer a solution that comes prepackaged and is ready to go, ideally with a single SKU.”
The MaxDeploy reference architectures address this concern by providing preconfigured hyper-converged solutions that have been validated by both Maxta and each specific vendor, to make sure they work as intended.
“The vendors supported fall into two buckets,” Novick said. “One is the brand name big server vendors like Lenovo, Dell, HP and Cisco. The other is the big providers of white label servers, Intel and SuperMicro, because some partners prefer a white box solution.”
Maxta sells entirely through channel partners, and Novick said the new offerings will be an enormous asset for them.
“MaxDeploy adds many more dimensions for partners,” he said. “It lets them create specific solutions. For example, a Cisco partner would want to create a Cisco-based hyperconverged solution, and this will let them do that.”
One Maxta partner, Houston-based Amysys Innovative Solutions, is using the new architectures to offer a choice between two solutions, with cost being a main concern in their market where low oil prices have caused financial issues for many companies.
“They create a solution which runs on Lenovo, and another which runs on SuperMicro, to provide both a brand option and a cost savings option,” Novick indicated.
Maxta’s MVP partner program began last year with a single tier, but with the changes to the offerings the program has been changed as well. There is now a basic tier, MVP Partners, and an elite tier, MVP Elite Partners.
Higher margins for partners, particularly on registered deals, has always been a Maxta diffentiator, and that won’t change in the new program, regardless of partner tier. All MVP partners can participate fully in the Maxta deal registration and sales incentive programs.
Carolyn Crandall, Vice President, Marketing, Maxta
“We want to reward the partner who has done the deal, and so the discount structure doesn’t change,” said Carolyn Crandall, Vice President, Marketing, at Maxta. “Elite partners are able to provide Level 1 and Level 2 support, and that’s what gets them more rewards.” Elite partners are also eligible for joint marketing funding from Maxta, and are required to meet a minimum set of requirements including completing Maxta sales and technical training and showing the ability to demonstrate Maxta solutions.
“The main MVP tier is for partners with customer relationships to introduce Maxta to those customers,” Crandall said. “The Elite partners, of which we now have less than a dozen globally, make more of an investment in Maxta. They are building a practice around Maxta and it takes a bit of an effort to build that out.
