"IBM is committed to support our clients via multiple digital platforms of engagement in these times of social distancing"

Lata Singh, Executive Director IBM Partner Ecosytem & CSI, India/South Asia

"Theworld is dealing with the ongoing COVID-19 crisis and number of our clients and partners have had to re-evaluate their IT strategy in the short and medium term. IBM is committed to support our clients via multiple digital platforms of engagement in these times of social distancing. We have launched a special set of offerings to cater to the increased demand for Cloud solutions, Cybersecurity, Remote Workforce and Business Continuity Planning and some specifically to assist our channel business partners.

IBM is offering an extended financial stimulus package for our customers through IBM Global Financing. IBM Systems globally has added millions of dollars into the incentive portfolio which will be available for distributors and all partners in India. The Q2 performance incentive for Power and Storage has been increased. The funding for eligible digital co-marketing activities in Q2 has been increased from 50% to 100%. Clients will be given option to pay in quarterly installments at zero percent interest for any hardware purchases in Q2 subject to terms & conditions.

We have suspended CVR Sales / Sales Assist, CVR Solution revalidation for 2020 allowing partners’ additional time to prepare and complete necessary testing. The revalidation grace period for IBM Partnerworld program has been extended from May 5, 2020 to January 1, 2021 so that partners will not decrease in program level or lose a competency during this time. IBM provides resources to plan/prospect and progress leads, run a digital workshopwith the Digital Technical Engagement team and incentives if the workshop is done with a client. We are providing access to key virtual selling tools, remote training tools, guidance and resources to make sure learning never stops. My Digital Marketingis the new digital marketing platform which IBM launched in Feb for our partners to quickly access an array of 'ready-to-execute' digital campaigns. With it partners will be able to plan, personalize, execute and measure their next digital marketing campaign, and identify what does and doesn’t work as our lines of communications shift to more virtual channels. We provide 24/7 access to solution demos, webinars and more at IBM Virtual Client Center. IBM has launched a special 90-day software offerings and trials at no cost for Cloud & Cognitive Softwareand defined a distinct set of focus solutions for IBM Power, IBM Security, IBM Storage, IBM Z and LinuxONEthat will help both partners and customers. We will continue to push more content to the Seismicplatform - a central repository for all sales enablement materials on demand - with additional programmatic digital enablement sessions. Business Partner Connectoffers both IBM and Red Hat partners the ability to discover new collaboration opportunities, by leveraging Watson's matching technology to help find the right tools for shifting business needs.IBM digital badges and professional certifications are now available on IBM Skills Gateway.

Since we have a strong services team we are sharing with our partners details on our service offerings as well as best practices. Partners looking to expand their service offerings can seek advice from our experts as well as take the IBM service offerings to their Clients. We are also keen that our partners leverage IBM Cloud for their client needs from bare metal to SaaS offerings. On top of it all, we are hosting the IBM Think 2020and PartnerWorld conference digitally on May 5-6. It will be an exciting combination of live streamed content, interactive sessions and certifications, highlighting IBM’s technology and industry expertise for Business Partners and developers. The focus on building skills on solutions for the post COVID time remains most important."