OUR PROGRAM DEFINES THE CLIENT REQUIREMENTS AND BUILDS MOMENTUM TO ADDRESS THE MARKET SHIFT

LATA SINGH
Executive Director - Partner Eco-System & CSI - India & SA,IBM India Pvt. Ltd.

NEED OF A PARTNER PROGRAMME

The partner program is a strategy to engage partners to create more value for customers. It is how we at IBM recruit, activate and retain partners in our ecosystem. Companies that utilize a partner program have been very successful in growing their platform through the ecosystem. The program also defines the way that we are observing our client requirements and the overall ecosystem shift that is happening across the industry and the need to build momentum to address the market shift.

IMPORTANCE OF A PARTNER PROGRAMME

Key program attributes & benefits that IBM invests & evolves include areas such as: technical resources, education & training, marketing & go-to-market support, competencies and partner tracks that provide innovative benefits and focus on building capabilities that are core to the client needs. Just as the client needs are accelerating and transforming, the partner programmes need to also bring into play the new models that IT companies are using to deliver services to the customers across on-prem, hybrid cloud and multi-cloud models.

MAIN CONCERNS TO ADDRESS

One of the most critical features of a partner program is the program framework which shows how the partner program should work and allows the partner to understand how they should engage with the vendor. In the recently launched reimagined IBM PartnerWorld Program, we focused on the ‘build’, ‘service’ and ‘sell’ motions of partners, allowing them to take advantage of innovative benefits in one or more tracks thereby expanding their opportunities with IBM. This also expands our engagement to the ISV and Managed Service models that are driving client engagements. IBM with its large portfolio of solutions ensured that there is a uniform programme for partners and a model that defines the different solutions and how the same will be consumed by end clients in its programme. We strive to continuously simplify our program in the complex world of  how we and our partners engage with clients.