CRN April 2020 - Issue 1392

ISSUE 1392 • APRIL 2020

crn.com

RAISING THE BAR Our Partner Program Guide highlights who’s giving solution providers the tools they need to succeed PAGE 16

STORAGE 100 NEWS, ANALYSIS AND PERSPECTIVE FOR VARs AND TECHNOLOGY INTEGRATORS

The heart of every business PAGE 50

The Kurian Effect CEO Thomas Kurian has upped Google Cloud’s game with hot new technology, a razor-sharp vertical market focus and big new partner investments PAGE 10

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INGRAM MICRO HAS YOUR WORK-FROM-HOME SOLUTION READY-TO-GO VDI To meet the most urgent of needs, HPE has preconfigured, ready-to-go VDI solutions in stock and available immediately through Ingram Micro. Designed for Citrix and VMware environments and built on HPE ProLiant servers, these HPE solutions are ideal to rapidly support small teams, but scale out to support hundreds of workers, scaling one server at a time to exactly match the customers’ needs.

Conserving Cash Managing costs during economic uncertainty

Rapid adoption of remote work practices and tools

Providing access to sensitive data via untrusted devices or networks

Replicating in-person interactions virtually Rapid capacity expansion for VPN and Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI)

Need flexible financing options? Contact Ingram Micro Financial Solutions at 877-877-0035 or financialsolutions@ingrammicro.com. For more HPE sales and technical enablement tools, sign up for Ingram Micro’s exclusive partner program at www.gohybridit.com

HPE TRADE-IN SAVES MONEY Take advantage of the HPE Accelerated Server Buy Back Program to cut down on your total cost of acquiring new equipment. You could get up to $1,400 cash back for each server you trade!

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Computer Reseller News

April 2020

Columns 6 The Final Cut

By Steven Burke

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On The Record

By Robert Faletra

Features 8 Tech10

The Kurian Effect

Work-at-home has quickly become the norm. Here are 10 cool devices that can enhance the experience.

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IoT 50

The key to realizing the promise of IoT lies in vendors delivering the building blocks solution providers need. These 50 companies have met that goal.

Tech Elite 250

Solution providers know that high-level certifications from their vendor partners are a true differentiator.

Partner Program Guide Solution providers are upping their game to deliver the hottest technology and the latest in consumption-based pricing.

Which vendors they partner with will be instrumental to their success. Enter our annual Partner Program Guide.

Storage 100

For reprints and plaque requests, please contact The YGS Group at 800.290.5460 or http://crnlicensing.com CRN (ISSN 1539-7343), also known as Computer Reseller News, is published 14 times a year (February, April, June, August, October, December and 8 Special Issues) by The Channel Company, One Research Drive, Suite 400B, Westborough, MA 01581, and is free to qualified management personnel at companies involved in the reselling/distribution of computers/ networking systems, software and services. One-year subscription rates for all others in the United States are $209.00; Canada $234.00. Overseas air mail rates are: Europe $380.00; Mexico/South America $380.00; Africa $380.00; Asia/ Australia $480.00. Please mail all subscription inquiries along with checks or money orders to CRN, Dept. 100, P.O. Box 3608, Northbrook, IL 60065-3608. For renewals or change of address, please include the mailing address label appearing on the front cover of the publication. Periodicals postage paid at Worcester, MA, (and additional offices, if applicable). POSTMASTER: Send address changes to CRN, P.O. Box 3608, Northbrook, IL 60065-3608. FOR SUBSCRIPTION SERVICES call (877)705-5559 or go to crn.com/subscribe CopyrightŠ 2020 by The Channel Company. All Rights Reserved. Registered for GST as The Channel Company, GST No. R13288078, Customer No. 2116057, Agreement No. 40011901. Return undeliverable Canadian addresses to: APC Postal Logistics, LLC PO Box 503 RPO W Beaver Cre, Rich-Hill ON L4B 4R6

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Solution providers are helping customers capture startling data insight that was unimaginable years ago by making sure they have all the right storage technology. For the first time, we present the Storage 100 list of innovative vendors.

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There’s More Online Most-Read Stories

1. Dell Donates Millions To Fight Coronavirus: ‘We Are All In This Together’

2. VMware’s Pat Gelsinger:

Coronavirus Will ‘Permanently Change’ Work

3. Coronavirus Stimulus Package Could Have Big Channel Impact

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‘Don’t Panic’: MSPs Address Coronavirus Concerns Scan here to watch the video on CRN.com

GET CHANNEL NEWS RIGHT TO YOUR INBOX CRN Newsletters Deliver: • Breaking News Alerts • Industry Event Coverage • Highly Acclaimed Lists Subscribe Today!

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THE FINAL CUT

Google’s Alpha-Bet GOOGLE CLOUD IS THE REAL DEAL

By Steven Burke

ANYONE WHO DOUBTS Google Cloud has what it takes to make the grade versus Amazon Web Services or Microsoft would be wise to consider the impact that CEO Thomas Kurian has had in just 14 months on the job.

That’s the big takeaway from CRN Senior Editor Donna Goodison’s compelling look at what she refers to as “The Kurian Effect” in our cover story this month.

Kurian—a 22-year Oracle veteran who was in no small part responsible for upping Oracle’s cloud game—has brought order to what was a less-than-partner-friendly approach to the cloud market by Google Cloud.

Cue the cavalry-to-the-rescue bugle charge. Kurian has brought breakthrough multi-cloud technology in the form of Anthos; a razor-sharp, real-world, vertical market focus; and an enterprise sales force and partner strategy to back it all up.

My bet is that when Kurian took the job, he made sure he had the green light to leverage the breadth and depth $162 billion Google parent Alphabet can bring to bear on the cloud opportunity. Kurian knows that no one on the planet can match the search engine analytics intellectual property that Google has amassed. And he’s going to use it to give a big business outcome advantage to Google partners and customers.

When asked for the top selling points for Google Cloud over AWS and Microsoft, he told Goodison that customers get access to the broad set of innovations from both Google and Alphabet. Case in point: Kohl’s, the $19 billion department store behemoth with 1,100 stores in the U.S. “One of the areas that we’ve worked [with Kohl’s] across Google is using our analytics foundation and our marketing and advertising tools to help them be much more targeted in how they use our technology to reach customers with offers, with promotions, with new products,” Kurian told Goodison. “That’s a common thing we do with retailers. That’s a combination of our expertise in the cloud around data science, large-scale data and analytics, coupled with the reach that we have on the consumer side with our search and ads.”

That critical combination is a powerful weapon for partners. The challenge for Google will be making sure that data science and analytics intellectual property show up in the Google Cloud solutions partners are bringing to market.

The vertical market focus Google has put in place—retail, health care and life sciences, financial services, telecommunications, media and entertainment, manufacturing/industrial and public sector—is going to be a big plus for partners as they look to take advantage of Google’s data science/analytics expertise.

Google also has finally made channel investments that are starting to bear fruit.

There was 300 percent growth in the number of Google Cloud-certified partners last year along with a 195 percent increase in partner-sourced revenue.

When Google moved to the Alphabet structure, then-CEO Larry Page pointed to each business prospering with strong leadership to deliver what he called an “alpha-bet”—with “alpha” being an investment return above benchmark. That’s the path Google Cloud is on now.

Tom Galizia, senior technology partner and lead commercial partner for the Alphabet/Google group at Deloitte Consulting, said Kurian is “playing chess, not checkers.” Galizia, in fact, expects Deloitte’s Alphabet/Google work to be its fastest-growing billion-dollar business.

Watch for Kurian’s leadership to result in many more checkmate moves and big sales gains for Google Cloud and its partners. n

Women of the

Channel

Women of the Channel online offers the opportunity to: · Network with peers · Learn about channel trailblazers · Exchange career and life advice · Gain the tools for success

Women of the Channel online is the destination for female channel executives to discuss leadership, entrepreneurship and innovation.

Visit wotc.crn.com

BACKTALK: What kind of chess moves are you seeing from Google Cloud?

Let me know at sburke@thechannelcompany.com.

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4/1/20 7:29 AM

T E C H 1 0 : MOB I LITY

Building An Effective—And Cool— Home Office For Your Customers Here are 10 devices that can play a starring role in a mobile work setup

By Kyle Alspach

Mobile and remote work was already a fast-growing phenomenon, even before the arrival of the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic. But in recent weeks, home offices have become even more the norm as part of social distancing measures—and many predict that work-from-home could remain far more common going forward. An effective mobile work setup will depend not just on having collaboration software, but also on having the right hardware for the job. To give a sense of some of the leading options for mobile and remote workers, we’ve rounded up 10 of the latest cool devices in mobility that solution providers should know about—from business-friendly smartphones, laptops and tablets, to accessories for getting the job done.

SAMSUNG GALAXY NOTE 10 PLUS The Note 10 Plus offers a huge 6.8-inch AMOLED display with brightness of 800 nits outdoors, ideal for getting work done in any environment. Businessfriendly features include easier connectivity from the phone to the DeX Android desktop; users can access their DeX desktop on a PC or Mac by simply plugging into the computer using an included USB-C to USB-C cable.

BELKIN BOOST UP WIRELESS CHARGING STAND 10W This handy accessory from Belkin serves both as a convenient stand for a phone during the workday— enabling easy viewing of notifications—as well as a speedy wireless charger. The Boost Up charging stand offers up to 10 watts of charging power and is specially tuned for Apple’s iPhones and Samsung smartphones (though it is capable of charging all Qi-enabled smartphones). In addition, users can choose between charging in portrait or landscape mode.

HP ELITE DRAGONFLY The Elite Dragonfly features a magnesium body and a weight of just 2.2 pounds, along with up to 24.5 hours of battery life per charge. On performance, the Elite Dragonfly offers choices of processors from Intel’s eighthgeneration Whiskey Lake series—up to a Core i7—while the notebook includes a 13.3-inch convertible touch screen with FHD or 4K resolution.

MICROSOFT SURFACE PRO X Microsoft’s Surface Pro 2-in-1 tablet series got a big refresh with the larger 13-inch display and thinner form factor of the Surface Pro X. Another key addition is the ability to store the optional digital stylus inside the keyboard itself—while Microsoft’s custom SQ1 processor helps enable “always on” functionality as well as LTE connectivity.

LENOVO THINKBOOK 13S/14S With the ThinkBook, Lenovo combines many business-friendly elements of the ThinkPad—including strong performance, durability and security—with a sleeker design and a price level meant to appeal to small and midsize businesses. The 13.3-inch ThinkBook 13s and 14-inch ThinkBook 14s are also highly portable for SMB-class notebooks, with a starting weight of just under 3 pounds for the ThinkBook 13s.

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SAMSUNG GALAXY TAB ACTIVE PRO The Galaxy Tab Active Pro includes a larger display than previous models in the businessfocused tablet series at 10.1 inches, along with expanded battery life at 16 hours. The tablet also offers businessfriendly features such as the ability to use with gloves; strong durability and water resistance; and capabilities to ensure continuous security and control.

APPLE MACBOOK PRO 16 Along with being Apple’s first notebook to feature a 16-inch Retina display, the latest MacBook Pro comes with a revamped keyboard design. The “Magic Keyboard” uses a scissor mechanism in place of the previous butterfly design, and offers 1mm of key travel for improved typing.

HP ELITEDISPLAY S14 Connecting to a secondary display—whether in the home office or on the road—doesn’t have to be a massive chore. HP’s EliteDisplay S14 runs off USB-C, meaning that users can just connect one end of a USB-C cable to a laptop and the other end into the display. The 14-inch display also features FHD resolution.

LOGITECH SLIM FOLIO FOR IPAD For iPad users that want their device to be more than just a tablet, the Logitech Slim Folio for iPad is a must-have. The Slim Folio case includes a keyboard and locks the iPad into place at an ideal angle—bringing the standard iPad (fifth through seventh generations) or the third-generation iPad Air much closer to a laptop experience.

DELL LATITUDE 5300 2-IN-1 CHROMEBOOK ENTERPRISE Along with putting Chrome OS on a Latitude business notebook for the first time, Dell’s Latitude 5300 2-in-1 Chromebook Enterprise features a 13.3-inch touch screen, a weight of 3 pounds and up to a quad-core Intel Core i7. Battery life for the Dell Latitude 5300 reaches up to 14 hours on a charge, meanwhile, and the convertible notebook includes Chrome Enterprise for multilayered security and support. ■

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C O V E R S T O RY

The Kurian Effect Thomas Kurian has upped Google’s cloud game with hot new technology, a razor-sharp vertical market focus and big partner investments

By Donna Goodison

G

oogle Cloud CEO Thomas Kurian says large-scale organizational changes and investments over the past year are paying off in the sales trenches for the No. 3 cloud provider as it moves toward a 100 percent go-to-market plan with channel partners.

Partners brought 85 percent more new customers to Google Cloud in 2019 than the prior year, and partner-sourced revenue grew 195 percent, Kurian told CRN during an exclusive interview at Google Cloud’s headquarters last month in Sunnyvale, Calif., before the coronavirus outbreak was declared a pandemic.

There was 300 percent growth in the number of Google Cloudcertified partners last year.

“All of that tells us the partners are finding we’re able to bring them business, they’re able to complement us with good solutions, and we can create an ecosystem for them with our customers,” Kurian said. “And we’ve been very careful to make sure that we enable the partner ecosystem with training, with certification, with support, with commercial incentives. We are very focused on making sure in each country, in each industry and in each market segment, we have the right partners.”

Google Cloud revenue—which includes Google Cloud Platform (GCP) and G Suite—jumped to $8.9 billion in 2019, a nearly 53 percent increase from the prior year. GCP growth alone was “meaningfully higher,” according to the company.

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That big sales gain is due in no small part to the end-to-end impact that Kurian, a former 22-year Oracle veteran and product development chief, has had on Google Cloud’s once-sluggish cloud bid since taking the helm 14 months ago.

Kurian quickly launched an aggressive drive for enterprise customers, developing an open-source, hybrid and multi-cloud game plan with the new Anthos platform and introducing industry-specific vertical solutions. Google Cloud also has rolled out more than 280 new products and a revamped partner program since he took the reins.

Kurian said Google Cloud is moving to a 100 percent partner attachment strategy for customer deals because—even with the financial muscle of Alphabet, its nearly $162 billion parent company—it could not match the might that the channel brings.

“We put that in place because we believe that partners have both a set of skills and reach that we don’t have direct,” Kurian said. “We believe very deeply, at the core, that the platforms that win in the end are those that are differentiated by solutions—some of them delivered by the cloud providers, others by an ecosystem around them—and we’re very, very committed to our partners.”

Google Cloud would not disclose how far along it is toward that goal, which was set in 2018, but SADA Systems CEO Tony Safoian said it’s “extremely close.”

“We’ve never before seen this level of attention to the partnerattach motion play out in the market, in the field and in every

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geography,” said Safoian, whose Los Angeles company was pegged as Google Cloud Global Reseller Partner of the Year last April.

“Where it matters most and has become very apparent recently, this is resonating with Google Cloud’s field sales organization. They want partners to contract deals, they want partners to dive into the presales engineering motion, they want partners doing professional services after the sale—but they also expect partners to do much more than ‘ask for handouts’ from the field,” Safoian said.

In addition to expanding support and commercial incentives for partners, Kurian’s first-year plan for Google Cloud identified three other areas requiring immediate improvement: product maturation, scaling its direct sales organization, and introducing new customer success and technical account management functions.

Mission accomplished for achieving those goals, according to Kurian. The company has also gained key customer wins with firms including Activision Blizzard, Etsy, John Lewis Partnership, Lloyds Banking Group, Lufthansa, Major League Baseball, Vodaphone and Wayfair. Deals over $50 million more than doubled last year from 2018.

“We were very clear on what we needed to do,” Kurian told CRN in March, a day after Google Cloud said coronavirus concerns prompted it to transform its annual Next ’20 conference into a virtual event called Google Cloud Next ’20: Digital Connect, which since has been postponed. Coronavirus concerns also prompted Google on March 26 to assert that the network supporting its enterprise cloud, as well as its many massive consumer services, is in good shape to handle the sustained surge in traffic brought on by the crisis.

“Our strategy for cloud is quite simple,” Kurian said. “In every industry, we see customers wanting to adopt digital technology either to lower cost, grow their top-line revenues or change ... how they bring products in certain markets, and we at Google are using our cloud platform as a vehicle to deliver digital solutions to them.”

And Google Cloud’s ability to leverage the broader assets of Google and Alphabet—from the big data prowess of its search, marketing and advertising reach to health care and life sciences insight—is among its top selling points over competitors, according to Tom Galizia, senior technology partner and lead commercial partner for the Alphabet/Google group at Deloitte Consulting, a Google Cloud Premier partner.

“With the lens of all of the assets of Alphabet … the ability to work with industries to change the face of the planet—not just to give them a platform to be innovative, but to give them real access to other parts of the business in a compliant way—is pretty amazing,” Galizia said.

Google’s Cloud Journey With cloud adoption still in its relative infancy, the market is wide open for Google Cloud, even as its trails the two public cloud frontrunners. Amazon Web Services (AWS) led the market for cloud infrastructure services spending in the fourth quarter at 33 percent, with Microsoft at 18 percent, according to a February

report from Synergy Research Group. Google Cloud maintained its 8 percent share.

Kurian sees three primary Google Cloud capabilities: allowing customers to use its large-scale infrastructure to modernize their IT abilities; allowing customers to leverage Google Cloud’s data, analytics, machine learning and application development solutions to understand and use information in new ways; and providing industry-specific solutions in the six target markets of financial services, health care, manufacturing and industrial, the public sector, retail, and media, telecommunications and entertainment.

The CEO points to reports by Gartner and Forrester Research as evidence that Google Cloud’s concentration on product maturity has been effective. Google Cloud holds 20 leader positions in Gartner’s Magic Quadrant and Forrester’s Waves reports—a six-fold increase from 2017 to 2019.

Its work included ensuring Google Cloud meets all compliance requirements for various laws, regulations and standards. In December, it announced it had earned the U.S. federal government’s FedRAMP High authorization and expanded its FedRAMP Moderate authorization to 64 products in 17 cloud regions.

“We also added support for lots of more traditional enterprise workloads—SAP, VMware, Oracle, Windows, mainframes,” Kurian said. “These are all things that enterprise customers want, and we didn’t support them before 2019. That lets us serve customers better, because we have a prepackaged solution. It also opens up new markets for us.”

In November, Deloitte Consulting—Google Cloud’s largest partner and a launch partner for its Cloud Acceleration Program for SAP customers—said it was ramping up its Google Cloud partnership with new solutions targeting large-scale SAP workload migrations.

And Google Cloud soon will announce the general availability of Google Cloud VMware Solution by CloudSimple, to which select customers have had early access since last July.

Google Cloud last year also said it would triple the size of its sales organization over the next few years. Kurian wouldn’t specify how many sales employees Google Cloud started with, saying only it was lower than a reported 1,500 when he joined and now is larger.

“We’ve built out great sales leadership from companies with enterprise backgrounds, so they bring a lot of expertise in how to guide and grow and manage large-scale sales organizations,” he said.

The new hires include veterans from AWS, IBM, Microsoft, Oracle, Red Hat, Salesforce and SAP, including Robert Enslin, an SAP veteran hired last April as president of global customer operations.

Google understands it can’t make substantial market-share gains without the help of partners, according to SADA’s Safoian.

“It’s a completely new orientation—not that Google didn’t have partners before, and that we didn’t have a great business before—but it’s fundamental to them,” Safoian said. “I know from talking to a lot of people at Google that yes, they want to win every quarter, every year, but they have a 10-year vision around this journey, and so do we. We know that Google is going to continue to grow 60, 70, 80, 90 percent a year … for the next several years.”

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C O V E R S T O RY Google Cloud also hired Kirsten Kliphouse (formerly of Red Hat and Microsoft) as cloud president for North America; John Jester (formerly of Microsoft) as vice president of customer experience; Atul Nanda (formerly of Salesforce) as vice president of customer support; and Carlos Granda (formerly of SAP) as vice president of customer success. And it has new regional sales leads in a number of geographies, including North America and Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

Google Cloud now employs a regional decision-making model that has channel managers reporting to its field sales leaders in their respective regions—instead of into Sunnyvale—for greater speed. It simplified its commercial contracting process and tiered its customer base to SMBs, corporate or commercial accounts, enterprise, and new select or named accounts. The latter typically have a one-to-one relationship with a key Google Cloud account director in addition to a salesperson, and include Carrefour, Hongkong and Shanghai Banking, Spotify and Target.

“We’ve organized them by industry, so it allows us to sell industry solutions much more effectively to customers,” Kurian said.

Google Cloud is in an “evolving revolutionary state,” and its revamped strategy has been well-received by the market and partners, according to Deloitte’s Galizia.

“What was needed a year ago was a revolution,” he said. “Two years ago, on an analyst call, they would have talked about deals over $1 million, which is not an enterprise discussion. The clock speed has gone up, and the intensity has gone up. By and large, it’s been wildly effective. When you have that level of precision and focus, it makes things easier, because Google could be many things to many people, but … trying to satiate the entire market all at the same time is not possible.”

Kurian is “playing chess, not checkers,” according to Galizia, who has said Deloitte’s Alphabet/Google work will be its fastest-growing, billion-dollar business—a milestone it expects to hit within 24 months.

“He’s a strategist, he’s a technologist, he’s an operator, and all of those dimensions of a leader that he brings to bear are incredibly refreshing,” Galizia said. “The amount of change that he’s done in a very short period of time is almost mind-numbing. In the very early innings, he was laser-focused on industry vertical solutions, and so we have stood up dozens. Given his Oracle lineage, he knows the importance of us meeting a customer where they are with relevant opportunities and/or solutions that drive greater efficiencies.”

This year, Google Cloud will continue expanding its internal go-to-market organization, partner ecosystem, technology innovation and new business solutions using its artificial intelligence advances and targeting specific industries, according to Kurian.

He’s been very clear and consistent in his vision, Enslin said.

“He’s exceptionally focused on how we add value to the customer,” Enslin said. “That’s been a very clear approach to how we go out to market, what are the major markets we want to go after, which of the industries are important, how to simplify the solution, how to make it easier for customers to do business with Google Cloud, and how we support our customers in a world-class way. Thomas has laid that

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out very clearly from the very first day. It’s a very easy way to work, because we’re not twirling.We know exactly what we’re going after.”

Anthos Adoption Google Cloud is going after enterprise accounts for its fully managed Anthos platform that debuted a year ago, allowing customers to build and manage applications across on-premises data centers, Google Cloud and rival third-party clouds including AWS and Microsoft Azure. It shortly will announce that Anthos on AWS will be generally available for all customers, Anthos on Microsoft Azure is being tested with customers and Anthos support for virtual machines is in early preview.

Cleveland-based KeyBank uses Anthos to optimize its test, development and delivery processes across an on-premises environment and GCP, and retailer Kohl’s uses it across GCP and other public clouds.

“We’re seeing very good momentum,” Kurian said. “We are seeing a lot of customer interest on ensuring that they can build applications and decouple where they’re building the application and where it can run. It’s the choice that it gives them.”

Anthos addresses the biggest issue that Google Cloud sees among customers—their lack of cloud skills, according to Kurian.

With Anthos, he said, “they don’t have to fragment their existing skill set, because you can train your people on one technology and have it work everywhere. Anthos also provides you the ability to manage consistently: You can manage security, you can manage operationally across clouds.”

Partners also see Anthos as a big value proposition because it allows them to train their own employees on one technology “no matter what the customer picks as their platform,” Kurian said.

“Thomas’ strategy of building and positioning the Anthos platform to break into digital transformation budgets was brilliant,” said C Vijayakumar, CEO of HCL Technologies, a Noida, India-based Google Cloud partner.

Deloitte’s Galizia calls Anthos one of Google Cloud’s “crown jewels” and an example of what it’s done better and differently: “It reduces vendor lock-in and creates portability and flexibility.

Others are trying to copy that strategy now, but … they were the leader to force everybody else’s hand.”

Partner Commitment Deloitte, HCL and other partners have a presence in all 21 priority markets targeted by Google Cloud, and partners of all sizes are integral to its strategy, Kurian said, noting the cloud provider serves more than 5 million small and midsize companies.

“A partner who helps a small and medium business adopt our collaboration tool, G Suite … is going to be very different than a partner who helps us implement machine learning for a … top-tier bank,” Kurian said. “The large system integrators, of course, are super important partners to us … but they’re focused on delivering solutions to a certain segment of customers.”

HCL was an “early believer” in Google Cloud, according to

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Vijayakumar. In October, it started a dedicated Google Cloud business unit with plans to increase its Google Cloud-trained workers from 1,300-plus to more than 5,000 and open Google Cloud-specific, cloud-native labs in Dallas, London and India.

“The way Thomas and his team have executed their partner-first approach and their capability curation in areas like data and AI, SAP solutions on Google, vertical solutioning, amongst others, has given them a niche space in the market,” said Vijayakumar, who reported “excellent on-ground results with large joint wins across industries.”

The Google Cloud Partner Advantage program and portal launched last July, consolidating 16 programs. Kurian has prioritized making sure that Google Cloud is the “best partner to partner with,” said Carolee Gearhart, Google Cloud’s channel chief.

“There are lots of ways for partners to unlock additional benefits that frankly go well beyond economics,” said Gearhart.

The company has also assigned new advisers to every partner to make it easier to do business with Google Cloud; introduced new channel support for enterprise customers and technical benefits and support, including during presales cycles; and debuted new “expertises” for partners to further differentiate themselves.

“We see that our program is smaller, but more focused … and we’re very crisp on the kinds of solutions we’re bringing to market,” Kurian said. “It provides partners greater ability to differentiate amongst themselves and add value. One of the things that we’ve done very well with partners is train them on the solutions that we’re talking to customers about and that customers are finding interesting.”

Google Cloud also has doubled down on MSPs. “Not only did we build that program, but we’ve also put in place specific support,” Kurian said. “If you’re a managed services organization, our partner team will help you with trouble ticketing, triaging issues, resolving problems, etc., and that is very different from what some of the other cloud providers do.”

The MSP program is a big leap forward, said Safoian, whose company recently signed a deal to drive $500 million in customer purchases of GCP services between now and the end of 2022.

“There are more resources at Google than ever to work on the commercial [terms] around these complex, large deals,” Safoian said. “Now when a customer makes the decision to go to Google Cloud, they feel like, ‘Wow, I have the legal and contractual infrastructure, I have the support infrastructure … and also the engineering support to ensure that my migration is going to be successful.’ In years past, these constructs didn’t exist, this head count didn’t exist, and that made the very large customers, understandably, somewhat nervous.”

Google Cloud is offering “very attractive” financial incentives to partners, according to Kurian.

“We’ve put a lot more economic incentives directly into the hands of partners, both with regard to bringing us new customers or winning new logos, as well as expanding our existing presence by delivering solutions into existing customers,” Kurian said. “We expanded the number of territories that channels can sell to.

We’ve reduced and eliminated channel conflict between direct and the partners. Net-net, the partners have been very happy.”

Google Cloud’s field compensation plans are neutral on reseller transactions, so its field salespeople are incentivized to work with partners on customer deals. The same offers and promotions proffered by Google Cloud also are available from partners, who have access to the same training and enablement given to internal sales and presales teams.

Google Cloud’s focus and growing priority on partners has been fantastic, said Jim O’Dorisio, general manager of emerging commercial solutions at Iron Mountain. The Boston company was named the Google Cloud Technology Partner of the Year for AI and Machine Learning last April for its InSight content services platform.

“Because we’ve made that transition from early product to pretty significant pipeline and closing deals … our field teams are working closely together to do joint account planning and work with some of our joint large customers,” O’Dorisio said.

“It’s pretty evident when we engage with the leadership within Thomas’ organization that everybody gets how important partners are to their success. There’s more wood behind the arrow as it relates to the support that we receive.”

Extending The Partner Initiative Based on demand, Google Cloud is intent on expanding the U.S. and overseas footprints of its public sector partners catering to local, state and federal agencies.

That ecosystem is growing very quickly, according to Kurian.

“We’ve started seeing customers work with us on a large-scale basis,” he said. “We provide capability to the New York City Cyber Command.We have a public win with the U.S. Postal Service, where we’re helping transform its business model and the technology infrastructure behind it to become more of a digital organization.

We’ve done work with different states—Arizona, Tennessee—enabling them to use our platforms and our collaboration tools, for example, to change how effectively they can collaborate amongst themselves and also deliver services to citizens.”

Google Cloud is also spotlighting how its technology is helping enterprise customers such as PayPal, Spotify, Target and The Home Depot solve business challenges.

“We’re working with some of the largest customers to solve the stickiest and most difficult problems,” Enslin said. “We have to continue pushing the … messaging around the solutions that we’re bringing to market by industry. That is a major advantage to Google Cloud—and the word is getting out more and more.”

Kurian said he’s more interested in solving customer problems than keeping score in his chess match against AWS and Microsoft.

“We don’t spend our day waking up in the morning worrying about who’s first, second or third—partly because it’s important that we focus on the customer, not on competition, and, much more importantly, because it’s also apples to oranges what people are counting in their cloud revenue numbers,” he said. “So we don’t lose a lot of sleep over keeping score.”

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C O V E R S T O RY Q & A Google Cloud CEO Thomas Kurian met with CRN last month at the No. 3 cloud computing provider’s Sunnyvale, Calif., headquarters. The former longtime Oracle executive spoke about his first year leading Google Cloud, fielding questions on its top selling points over Amazon Web Services and Microsoft, and how cloud customers are leveraging the broader capabilities of Google and parent company Alphabet. Kurian also spoke about Google Cloud’s 5G opportunities and its commitment to G Suite, and where channel partners should be investing. This is an edited version of the interview.

What are your top selling points for why customers should choose Google Cloud over Amazon Web Services and Microsoft?

One certainly is that customers get access to the broad set of innovations that Google as an organization or Alphabet as an organization gives them. If you’re in health care, it’s what we do with our cloud, Google Health and Verily [Life Sciences, the Alphabet subsidiary that’s working on coronavirus testing efforts]. If it’s in retail, [it’s] search and ads and our shopping offerings, as well as the Google Assistant, along with what we do in cloud.

Secondly, on the core platforms … there are differences in what we do. We are the only one really offering these unique industry solutions. Inventory management is a complicated issue, and we’re helping a number of retailers optimize how they manage inventory and lower cost associated with the inventory. We offer a number of solutions to retailers—personalization, recommendation, product discovery, inventory management.

In health care, we provide solutions to normalize and get a unified view of patient information across a variety of systems. In media, we offer things around media streaming. We had an announcement with Quibi, for example … and we offer new ways to deliver short-form videos. And we’re doing a number of things in financial services around fraud, anti-money-laundering, etc. So we have a set of solutions in the cloud which are not just about IT, but applying IT to important business problems.

The third thing is, on our infrastructure side, we have a platform that we built for multi-cloud. [Anthos] allows organizations … to write an application once, they can deploy it in their data center, they can go across Amazon, Google and other cloud providers.

Can Google Cloud ride its open-source, hybrid and multi-cloud strategy and data and AI strength past Microsoft any time soon?

We are focused, first of all, on building a long-term business for Google and for Alphabet. I’ve always told our team if we delight customers, if we provide them with capability they couldn’t get in any other way, and if we provide them solutions to important business problems that they have, we’ll be fine. We don’t spend our day waking up in the morning worrying about who’s first, second or third—partly because it’s important that we focus on the customer, not on competition, and, much more importantly, because it’s also apples to oranges what people are counting in their cloud revenue numbers. So we don’t lose a lot of sleep over keeping score.

Can you talk more about how Google Cloud customers are leveraging Google’s broader capabilities?

Kohl’s works with us on a number of different projects to help modernize their IT infrastructure. They’ve built a … chatbot that can answer questions for customers. But one of the areas that we’ve worked across Google is using our analytics foundation and our marketing and advertising tools to help them be much more targeted in how they use our technology to reach customers with offers, with promotions, with new products. That’s a common thing we do with retailers. That’s a combination of our expertise in the cloud around data science, large-scale data and analytics, coupled with the reach that we have on the consumer side with our search and ads. A separate example is … the work we’re doing with Activision Blizzard. That’s a partnership we did with them to bring games in new ways to people around the world.

They use our cloud platform, and they’re very keen on both the platform’s capabilities because of the high-performance compute environments that we run [and] the capabilities of our network and the streaming that we provide. They’re also doing work—and it’s a partnership across Google with them, from Android to YouTube—to deliver new ways of exciting their players with an integrated experience across their Android phones, the information that creators are able to put up on YouTube and the interactivity they would get by delivering games on our platform.

What do you see as Google Cloud’s opportunities with 5G? [Editor’s Note: Two days after this interview, Google Cloud unveiled its global mobile edge cloud strategy for 5G and an AT&T collaboration to help enterprises take advantage of its technologies using AT&T network connectivity at the edge.]

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C O V E R S T O RY Q & A With telecommunications providers, we’re doing three or four different things. With 5G, we see an opportunity to make the telecommunications network not just about latency and bandwidth, but as a platform to deliver applications.

Rather than just on your device or in a data center, [applications] can actually run inside the telecommunications network. The telecommunications network can then monetize revenue, not based on connectivity, but based on new applications and solutions they’re offering.

Example No. 2, we are working with a number of large telecommunications software providers to change the core parts of the network—allowing people to run network functions in our cloud, allowing them to run their operational support systems and their business support systems, like their billing systems, in the cloud. We are also working with telecommunications companies to optimize the customer experience. We have a technology [Contact Center AI] to help significantly improve the experience consumers have with contact centers by applying our voice and our artificial intelligence technologies to assist agents. We have a lot of interest from telecommunications companies in that. And then, lastly, we also have people who are modernizing their IT, not just within the core parts of the IT infrastructure, but also … in the retail point of sale.

Where should Google Cloud partners be investing their resources?

We are seeing very strong growth in our collaboration offering. We’re seeing strong growth in our infrastructure. Obviously, data and analytics and machine learning are a real strength of ours. And we see huge growth in customers migrating legacy data warehouses and other things, as well as moving applications like SAP. Those are areas we constantly brief partners on, and we help them grow with us.

What is your commitment to G Suite?

It’s a big part of our focus on growth and our abilities of customers, and we have a whole range of them. Airbus, Whirlpool, Colgate—these are large customers using G Suite. We have a huge, huge business in education. We have a very, very large population of children and teachers using our products, and we have a long tail of small and medium businesses who use G Suite. In retail, we have customers who have many people who are in the front line of retail—meaning people who work in the stores—and they don’t want to be standing behind a desktop computer. They want to apply a collaboration tool that lets them just work from their mobile phone.

Right now, we have a huge number of people using G Suite to run meetings, because travel is difficult because of the ongoing concerns around the virus. So we’ve done a lot of things with live streaming, integrating new things, helping people collaborate to create things together and simplifying the collaboration experience, particularly for people not just who traditionally used collaboration tools, but many new people—nurses, airline pilots, retail store workers, construction workers. All of them we’re trying to bring into the collaboration experience.

As part of your growth plan, do you anticipate any more acquisitions?

We are very happy that the [$2.6 billion] Looker acquisition just completed [in February]. We’ve been thoughtful on how we do acquisitions. We’ve always acquired complementary products. Looker, for example, has had many common customers with our analytics portfolio. We’ve shown that we don’t need acquisitions to grow. We can grow organically, and we’re growing very quickly organically. But where it makes sense, we’ve done acquisitions to complement our existing portfolio products. n

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C R N PA R T N E R P R O G R A M G U I D E 2 0 2 0

The Channel Raises The Bar Solution providers are upping their game as customers demand the hottest technology and the latest in consumption-based pricing. The right vendor partner program will be key to their success.

By Rick Whiting

A

s resellers evolve into solution providers, strategic service providers and MSPs, so must the partner programs that link them to their IT vendor partners. And not all vendor partner programs are created equal.

Given the importance of IT vendor channel programs, CRN each year develops its Partner Program Guide to provide the channel community with a detailed look at the partner programs offered by IT manufacturers, software developers, service companies and distributors. In the following pages and at CRN.com we provide the 2020 edition of the CRN Partner Program Guide.

Recognizing that technical service capabilities can be a more important benchmark for partner success than sales volume, VMware, for example, went live with a new partner program in early March that dramatically changes the way the virtualization technology giant engages and incentivizes its thousands of channel partners across the globe. VMware Partner Connect, the company’s first new channel program since 2009, emphasizes technical services over sales thresholds and will incorporate the channel programs of recently acquired Pivotal Software, Carbon Black and VeloCloud.

“Regardless of business model, partners can gain access to the full breadth of the portfolio—that’s the guiding principle,” said Richard Steeves, VMware senior director of worldwide partner programs, in an interview with CRN. “Partners get to choose their own adventure in the program. They get to differentiate based on their investment strategy and business model.”

The new program allocates the most rebates, incentives and co-selling opportunities to partners who attain VMware Master Services competencies, a fact appreciated by Worth Davis, executive vice president and CTO at Computex Technology Solutions, a Houston-based VMware partner.

“The Master Services competencies make sense,” Davis said in an interview with CRN. “At a partner level, we’re trying to do the right thing for a customer. That might be two to four Master Services competencies at any given time. If I’m selling as much VMware as I can across multiple competencies, that’s a good thing. We’ll have all of them here at Computex.”

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Solution providers are adopting a recurring revenue model and delivering more comprehensive, higher-value services to meet customer demands, said Geoff Ashley, vice president of partner strategy and programs at application developer Acumatica, in an interview with CRN. “The channel itself is becoming more capable. The channel itself is raising the bar.”

Acumatica sells its cloud ERP applications entirely through the channel and relies heavily on partners to market the Acumatica brand and to acquire and retain customers. The company has been steadily expanding its partner program capabilities of late, offering extensive on-boarding and training for new partners and providing services, dedicated account managers and self-service content to help partners develop their brands around their core competencies and improve their sales capabilities.

In September the company launched an enterprise partner initiative, recruiting a small number of solution providers and systems integrators to go after customers with annual sales of more than $500 million.

The Partner Program Guide is based on detailed applications IT companies submit outlining all aspects of their partner programs.

To assemble the Partner Program Guide, The Channel Company’s research team analyzes the vendor applications and designates some of the companies as 5-Star based on a range of criteria including partner incentives, margins and discounts, partner profitability, subscription- and consumption-based pricing, sales leads, marketing support, pre- and post-sales support, programs to help partners grow their services attach, training and education offerings, technical certifications, and more.

The 5-Star designation recognizes an elite subset of partner programs that offer key partnering elements in their channel programs. The 5-Star rating is given to programs whose overall rating is exemplary. They are denoted on our listing next to their company name.

IT vendors are listed alphabetically on the following pages along with a sampling of the partner program data. More details about each company’s partner program are available online at www.crn.com. ■

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2 0 2 0 PA R T N E R P R O G R A M G U I D E Company

Channel Program

Channel Chief

Criteria By Which Partner Program Tiers Are Determined

8x8

Elev8 Partner Program

John DeLozier, SVP, Global Channel Chief

Sales/revenue volume

Accedian

Skylight 4X Program

Sergio Bea, VP, Global Enterprise, Channel Sales

Joint business plan, technical skills

Acer America

Acer Alliance VAR Program

Philip Burger, Sr. Director, U.S. Channel

Partner program does not have multiple tiers

Acquia

Acquia Partner Program

Joe Wykes, SVP, Sales, Partnerships

Sales/revenue volume, technical skills

Acronis

Acronis #CyberFit Partner Program

Florence Jule, Director, Global Partner Marketing

Joint business plan, sales/revenue volume, certifications, technical skills

Actian

Actian Partner Program

Marc Potter, Chief Revenue Officer

Sales/revenue volume, certifications, technical skills

Acumatica

Acumatica Partner Program

Geoff Ashley, VP, Partner Strategy, Programs

Sales/revenue volume, technical skills

Adaptiv Networks

Adaptiv Partner Program

Glen Schmid, VP, Sales

Joint business plan, sales/revenue volume

Agari

Agari Partner Power Program

Tracy Pallas, VP, Worldwide Channel

Joint business plan, sales/revenue volume, certifications, technical skills, solutions expertise

Alert Logic

Alert Logic Partner Connect Program

Christopher Rajiah, SVP, Worldwide Alliances, Partnerships

Joint business plan, sales/revenue volume, certifications, technical skills

Anaplan

PartnerConnect

David Tharp, VP, Global Partner Organization

Joint business plan, sales/revenue volume, technical skills

Aparavi

Aparavi Advantage

Peter Worsnop, VP, Strategic Alliances

Joint business plan, sales/revenue volume, technical skills, solutions expertise, vertical market expertise, specialization

APC by Schneider Electric

APC Channel Partner Program

Shannon Sbar, VP, Channels, North America

Sales/revenue volume, certifications, technical skills

AppDynamics

AppDynamics Partner Program

Gardner Johnson, VP, Worldwide Channels

Joint business plan, sales/revenue volume, technical skills, solutions expertise

AppRiver

AppRiver Partner Program

Joe Conti, Director, Channel Sales, Global Programs

Sales/revenue volume

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2 0 2 0 PA R T N E R P R O G R A M G U I D E Company

Channel Program

Channel Chief

Criteria By Which Partner Program Tiers Are Determined

Arcserve

Arcserve Accelerate

Tom Signorello, CEO

Joint business plan, sales/revenue volume, certifications, technical skills, solutions expertise

Arctic Wolf

The Arctic Wolf Partner Program

Will Briggs, Director, Channel Sales

Partner program does not have multiple tiers

Armor

Armor Global Partner Program

Matt Cook, Chief Revenue Officer

Joint business plan, sales/revenue volume, certifications

Partner Ready for Networking

Donna Grothjan, VP, Worldwide Channels

Joint business plan, sales/revenue volume, certifications, technical skills, solutions expertise, specialization

Atlassian

Atlassian Partner Program

Martin Musierowicz, Head of Global Channels

Sales/revenue volume, certifications, technical skills

AttackIQ

AttackIQ Accelerate Global Channel Program

Dan Sibille, VP, Worldwide Channels

Joint business plan, sales/revenue volume, certifications, technical skills, solutions expertise, specialization

Attivo Networks

Attivo Networks Partner Tushar Kothari, CEO Program

Partner program does not have multiple tiers

Automation Anywhere

Automation Anywhere Partner Program

Edmund O'Brien, SVP, Global Channel Partners

Sales/revenue volume, certifications, technical skills

Avaya

Avaya Edge

Jon Brinton, VP, North America Channel Sales

Sales/revenue volume, certifications, technical skills

Axcient

Axcient Channel Partner Program

Angus Robertson, Chief Revenue Officer

Joint business plan, sales/revenue volume, certifications, technical skills

Barracuda MSP

Barracuda MSP Partner Program

Neal Bradbury, VP, MSP Strategic Partnerships

Partner program does not have multiple tiers

Barracuda Networks

Barracuda Partner Program

Ezra Hookano, VP, Channels

Joint business plan, sales/revenue volume, certifications, technical skills, solutions expertise, specialization

Bitdefender

Bitdefender Partner Advantage Network

Joe Sykora, VP, Global Sales, Channel

Joint business plan, sales/revenue volume, certifications, technical skills, solutions expertise

Bitglass

Bitglass Altitude Partner Jon Peppler, VP, Worldwide Program Channels

Partner program does not have multiple tiers

BlackBerry Cylance

BlackBerry Cylance Partner Program

Sales/revenue volume, technical skills, solutions expertise

Aruba, a Hewlett

Packard Enterprise company

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May Mitchell, VP, Global Channel Sales, Field Marketing

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PARTNER PROGRAM GUIDE

Eaton Partner Program Devours The Competition Q: Eaton has been a 5-star winner every year since 2009. How has the PowerAdvantage Partner Program helped Eaton create sustained excellence?

A. The PowerAdvantage Partner Program has helped us establish the core structure of how Eaton wants to engage with the reseller community. While it’s evolved over time, the foundation remains the same. Partner education, enablement and deal registration have always existed, but they have been enhanced and modified as our program matured.

A: Our priority is to make it easy and not ask partners to jump through hoops to get the most from our program. This is one aspect that partners love about Eaton. Eaton’s release with the VxRail cluster shutdown is another integration that partners are coming to expect. Our alliance partnerships began back in 2009 with VMware and has expanded into other areas, like CI and HCI. Most resellers in the IT space are not leading with power. They are used to selling other IT products, so Eaton has done the upfront work to make these integrations possible and take the guesswork out. The recently completed VxRail integration is made possible by one of Eaton’s Intelligent Power Managers (IPM). IPM allows VxRail users to manage their IT application from one dashboard, enabling automated and graceful shutdown of VxRail clusters for business continuity. Focusing on strategic alliances was a turning point for our program. A lot of our partner education and program discounts are centered around this principle. We want partners to know that Eaton gets IT. We are making it easier to sell a complete solution.

“

Sommer Goodknecht

Manager, Channel Marketing

We want partners to know that Eaton gets IT. We are making it easier to sell a complete soultion.

“

Q: Why do partners continue to love working with Eaton? How has VxRail impacted Eaton’s relationships with its partners? How has Eaton kept those relationships so strong?

Q: How has the rise of cybersecurity impacted relationships with Eaton partners and how will Eaton keep its partner relations strong in future years?

A. We are leading the cybersecurity effort by being the first with the UL 2900-1 cybersecurity standard. This is possible through our network card that goes into the UPS. There are many network vulnerabilities, and this is a top concern of resellers and end users. We’re aware of this and are constantly evolving our products and their capabilities to keep up with the ever-changing pace of cybersecurity threats. Partners know to expect the highest standard from Eaton.

Scan here to access Eaton’s Learning Center https://custom.crn.com/power-management-hub/

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2 0 2 0 PA R T N E R P R O G R A M G U I D E Company

Channel Program

Channel Chief

Criteria By Which Partner Program Tiers Are Determined

BlackBerry Limited

BlackBerry Enterprise Partner Program

Richard McLeod, VP, Global Channels

Joint business plan, certifications, technical skills, solutions expertise, vertical market expertise, specialization

BMC

BMC Partner Advantage Jorge Lopez, AVP, Americas Program Channel

Sales/revenue volume, certifications, technical skills

Bonitasoft

Certified Bonitasoft Partner Program

Anne-Laure du Fou, Global Partner Program Manager

Partner program does not have multiple tiers

Broadvoice

Broadvoice Channel Partner Program

Kim McLachlan, SVP, Sales, Marketing

Partner program does not have multiple tiers

Brother International

Brother Authorized Partner Program

Joe Ashcraft, VP, Sales

Sales/revenue volume, certifications, technical skills, solutions expertise, vertical market expertise, specialization

Buffalo Americas

Buffalo Partner Program

Bill Rhodes, Director, Channel Sales

Partner program does not have multiple tiers

bvoip

bvoip Partner Program

George Bardissi, CEO

Partner program does not have multiple tiers

C2G

C2G Partner Program

Nancy Czlonka, VP, IT Channel Sales

Sales/revenue volume

Carbonite, an OpenText company

Carbonite Partner Program

Charlie Tomeo, VP, Channel Sales

Sales/revenue volume, certifications, technical skills

CenturyLink

CenturyLink Channel Partner Program

Garrett Gee, SVP, Indirect Sales

Sales/revenue volume

Check Point Software Technologies

Check Point Partner Growth Program

Frank Rauch, Head of Worldwide Channel Sales

Joint business plan, sales/revenue volume, certifications, technical skills, solutions expertise, specialization

Cisco Systems

Cisco Channel Partner Program

Oliver Tuszik, SVP, Global Partner Organization

Joint business plan, certifications, technical skills, solutions expertise, vertical market expertise, specialization

Cisco Systems

Cloud and Managed Services Program

Oliver Tuszik, SVP, Global Partner Organization

Certifications, technical skills, solutions expertise

Cisco Systems

Perform Plus

Oliver Tuszik, SVP, Global Partner Organization

Sales/revenue volume, certifications

CISSDM

CISSDM Partner Program

Rob Bloedorn, VP, Sales, Marketing

Joint business plan, sales/revenue volume, certifications, solutions expertise, vertical market expertise, specialization

Citrix Systems

Citrix Partner Network

Bronwyn Hastings, SVP, Worldwide Channel Sales, Ecosystems

Sales/revenue volume, technical skills, solutions expertise, specialization

CloudBolt Software

CloudBolt Partner Connect Program

Jim Adams, Head of Worldwide Channels, Alliances

Partner program does not have multiple tiers

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PARTNER PROGRAM GUIDE

Accelerate Partner Success with Progress Software

Q. Progress says that partnering is “in our DNA” and that partners are “core to our culture.” Can you give some examples of how that philosophy manifests itself?

A. At Progress, we truly believe that prioritizing our partners’ success and effectively aligning it with our own goals makes us better together. In fact, those who have followed us over our 35-year-plus history know that our channel partner relationships have been our key strength.

An important component of our program is that we localize for our major global regions based on their unique economies. Our program tier requirements and goals are set per region to maintain parity in our tiering, which means smaller regions are not penalized in our program benefits. Again, this goes back to our core philosophy — we only succeed when our partners succeed.

Q. How does the Progress Accelerate Partner Program stay ahead of the competition?

A. Enablement is our differentiator. It’s persona-based, including sales, marketing and

technical courses and accreditation is available. Our enablement team are experts in this field. They excel at creating content to help our partners gain the expertise they need to succeed — whether it is product skills, sales or development. Our enablement is available free of charge to any partner in the ecosystem.

Gary Quinn

“

SVP, WW Core Field Organization

We want to ensure our partners know how to leverage the Progress Accelerate Partner Program and the good news is that we’re already seeing tangible benefits from these initiatives.

“

The newly launched Progress Accelerate Partner Program was designed to maintain and augment that strength, providing one global program that gives partners the tools they need to accelerate their growth and achieve customer success. This branded program centralizes and expands all of our successful channel partner initiatives into one offering, providing training and enablement, a dedicated account manager, joint marketing planning and support, and incentive programs.

Q. How will Progress adjust its Accelerate Partner Program in 2020 and beyond, if at all?

A. We are in our first year of the Progress Accelerate Partner Program and, in this first year, we are focused on collaborating with our partners to assist them with the new program.

Over the next few years, we are expanding into two-tier distribution across the globe with our current partners as well as acquiring new partners. Our main goal is to help our partners maximize what they’re already doing with the solutions they are currently focused on. Then we’ll encourage them to adopt even more of the Progress portfolio to provide more value to their customers. This will enable our partners to continue to expand their reach across their respective markets and better serve their customers with solutions that cover a broader array of common business challenges.

For more information scan here or visit https://www.progress.com/partners

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2 0 2 0 PA R T N E R P R O G R A M G U I D E Company

Channel Program

Channel Chief

Criteria By Which Partner Program Tiers Are Determined

Cloudera

Cloudera Connect

Scott Andress, VP, Global Channels, Alliances

Joint business plan, sales/revenue volume, certifications, technical skills, solutions expertise

Cloudflare

Cloudflare Partner Services Program

Matthew Harrell, Global Head of Channel Sales, Partnerships

Sales/revenue volume, certifications, technical skills, solutions expertise

Cloudian

Cloudian Partner Program

Lori Wronsky, Director, Channel Marketing

Joint business plan, certifications, technical skills

Cogent Communications

Cogent Channel Partner Program

Rob Keres, Director, Channel Sales

Partner program does not have multiple tiers

Cohesity

Cohesity Partner Program

Bill Lipsin, VP, Global Channel Sales

Joint business plan, sales/revenue volume, certifications, technical skills

Comcast Business

Comcast Business Solutions Provider Program

Craig Schlagbaum, VP, Channel Chief

Joint business plan, sales/revenue volume

CommScope

CommScope PartnerPRO Network

Raelyn Kritzer, VP, Worldwide Channel

Joint business plan, sales/revenue volume, certifications, technical skills, solutions expertise, vertical market expertise, specialization

Commvault

Commvault Partner Advantage Program

Mercer Rowe, VP, Global Channels, Alliances

Joint business plan, sales/revenue volume, certifications, technical skills, solutions expertise

Comstor

Comstor Edge

Michael Urban, President, Worldwide Technology Solutions Distribution

Partner program does not have multiple tiers

Corelight

Corelight Channel Program

Scott Hoard, Head of Global Channels

Joint business plan, sales/revenue volume, certifications, technical skills, solutions expertise

CoreView

CorePartner Program

Terry Kerans, Director, Channel Sales, North America

Partner program does not have multiple tiers

Couchbase

PartnerEngage

Matt McDonough, VP, Business Development

Joint business plan, technical skills, solutions expertise

Cox Business

Cox Business Indirect Sales

John Muscarella, Sr. Director, Sales, Channel Programs

Joint business plan, sales/revenue volume

Cradlepoint

Cradlepoint Authorized Channel Partner Program

Eric Purcell, VP, Global Partner Sales

Sales/revenue volume, certifications, technical skills

Creatio Partner Program

Alex Donchuk, Global Channel Director

Sales/revenue volume, technical skills

CTERA

CTERA Cloud Accelerator Program

Jessica Barlow, Director, Channels, Alliances

Joint business plan, sales/revenue volume, certifications, technical skills, solutions expertise, vertical market expertise, specialization

CyberArk

CyberArk Global Partner Scott Whitehouse, VP, Channels, Joint business plan, sales/revenue volume, certifications, Program Alliances technical skills

Creatio (formerly bpm'online)

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PARTNER PROGRAM GUIDE

“Spectrum Has You Covered” With Communications Solutions That Help Clients Stay Competitive Q. What can channel partners look forward to in 2020 from the Spectrum Partner Program team?

A. (Kadlacek) We have many initiatives our partners can look forward to. We are

committed to making sure Spectrum has partners covered. Our coverage includes pre-sale and post-sale support, dedicated resources in the field, enhanced training and updated tools like PartnerLink and serviceability APIs for our partners to leverage. When we talk about coverage, we are working to expand where our partners can sell and add more support for multi-site opportunities. We want to emphasize that Spectrum can help clients get the communications solutions they need to remain competitive. We want to see more of our partners’ multi-site deals, regardless of where they are located.

Michelle Kadlacek

Vice President, Enterprise Partner Program

A. (Czekaj) 2020 is an important year. We are all about enablement. We continue

to invest in systems, tools and processes that will empower our partners’ success.

Keeping our partners, and their customers, at the heart of everything we do is our top priority.

Additionally, we continue to invest in our order-entry platform for coax deals. We have made major strides in order automation within the tool, accelerating the timeline to get a customer connected. Our partners really appreciate the control that comes along with placing a Spectrum order directly.

Q. What’s the key to success for your channel partners in 2020?

A. (Kadlacek) We are calling 2020 the Year of Automation and Execution. We have several initiatives underway that help our partners interact with and sell our services.

These enhancements include an enhanced partner Salesforce communities portal, partner-specific APIs for serviceability and order status and new partner portal functionality that will add more ability for our partners to be self-sufficient. That is why we say, “Spectrum has you covered.”

Chris Czekaj

“

Vice President, Strategic Channels

We continue to invest in systems, tools and processes that will empower our partners’ success.

Keeping our partners, and their customers, at the heart of everything we do is our top priority.

“

We have recently launched a new order-status platform for our partner community to track the status of coax product orders. This intuitive tool gives our partners the ability to monitor the status of an order, track installations, follow construction status and more.

See how you can enable your potential through partnering with Spectrum at partners.spectrum.com

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Channel Program

Channel Chief

Criteria By Which Partner Program Tiers Are Determined

CyberGRX

CyberGRX Global Channel Program

Walter Specht Jr., Director, Worldwide Channel Development, Alliances

Joint business plan, sales/revenue volume, certifications, technical skills

CyberPower

CyberPower Channel Partner Alliance

Scott W. Koller, VP, Channel Sales

Sales/revenue volume, technical skills, solutions expertise, vertical market expertise, specialization

DataCore Software

DataCore Certified Partner Program

Michael Chadwell, Director, Americas Channel Sales

Joint business plan, sales/revenue volume, certifications, technical skills

Datrium

Datrium Global Partner Network

Joe Vranicar, CRO

Joint business plan, sales/revenue volume, certifications, technical skills, solutions expertise, vertical market expertise, specialization

Datto

Datto Global Partner Program

Rob Rae, SVP, Business Development

Sales/revenue volume

DataDirect Networks

PartnerLink

Yvonne Walker, Sr. Manager, Partner, Customer Experience

Sales/revenue volume, solutions expertise, vertical market expertise, specialization

Dell Technologies

Dell Technologies Partner Program

Joyce Mullen, President, Global Channel, Embedded and Edge Solutions

Sales/revenue volume, certifications, technical skills, solutions expertise

DH2i

DH2i DxAdvantage Channel Partner Program

Connor Cox, Director, Business Development

Joint business plan, certifications, technical skills, solutions expertise

Digital Defense

Digital Defense SecureCloud Alliance Program

Rosanna Pellegrino, SVP, Business Development, Sales

Joint business plan, sales/revenue volume, technical skills, solutions expertise

Digital Guardian

Synergy Partner Program

Troy Gabel, VP, North America Sales

Joint business plan, sales/revenue volume, certifications, technical skills, specialization

Read Fenner, VP, Global Sales

Sales/revenue volume, vertical market expertise

Drobo, a StorCentric North American Channel Program Company

Dropbox

Dropbox Partner Network

Simon Aldous, Global Head of Channels

Joint business plan, sales/revenue volume, certifications, technical skills

Druva

Druva Compass Program

Timm Hoyt, Global VP, Partners, Alliances

Joint business plan, sales/revenue volume, certifications, technical skills, solutions expertise

Dynabook Preferred Partner Program

Patrick Mani, VP, Sales

Sales/revenue volume

Eaton

PowerAdvantage Partner Program

HervĂŠ Tardy, VP, GM, Distributed Joint business plan, certifications, technical skills, solutions Power Quality Division expertise, vertical market expertise, specialization

EnGenius Technologies

Elite Partner Program

Jack Shih, Marketing Specialist

Sales/revenue volume

erwin

erwin Partner Program

David Casillo, SVP, Global Channels, Enterprise Sales

Sales/revenue volume

Dynabook Americas (formerly

Toshiba America Computer Systems)

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PARTNER PROGRAM GUIDE

Bitdefender Offers World-Class Cybersecurity #ReadyWhenYouAre

Thank you, CRN, for recognizing the Bitdefender Partner Program with five stars for the fifth year in a row! We couldn’t do it without our valuable partners. While we all need to be responsive to the new business landscape, Bitdefender remains committed to our global channel community.

As always, we’re #ReadyWhenYouAre to be your one world-class, cybersecurity expert to protect office, data center and cloud.

Q. Bitdefender recently announced its Managed Detection and Response/ Security Operations Center offering. Why is this important for Bitdefender partners who are trying to stay ahead of cybersecurity challenges?

Q. How will the Pax8 partnership with Bitdefender help Bitdefender extend its reach in the cybersecurity space?

A. (Jason Eberhardt, Vice President, Global Cloud and MSP) Pax8 is the largest Microsoft partner and functions as a consultant and partner to their customer base. They’ve offered us the opportunity to plug into one of the largest cloud and MSP partner bases in the market. They’re a true born-in-the-cloud distributor with a complete security team to focus on our business and add value to the larger ecosystem of cloud vendors.

Raluca Avram

“

Senior Manager, Worldwide Channel Program and 2020 Channel Chief

The revamped Bitdefender MSP Program offers wellstructured incentives, opportunities for increased profitability and accelerated ROI to all Bitdefender cloud partners.

“

A. (Jarret Raim, Senior Director, Managed Security Services) Bitdefender’s Managed Detection and Response for Endpoints is a managed security service that quickly detects, investigates and removes advanced adversaries that infiltrate your customers’ environments and protects them from today’s complex threats. MDR utilizes in-depth telemetry from Bitdefender’s GravityZone Ultra, Network Traffic Security Analytics (NTSA) and advanced threat intelligence, plus other best-of-breed tools, to generate alerts for our Security Operations Center analysts, who execute hunting missions to detect sophisticated adversaries or attacks. Our SOC team investigates and responds to incidents using detailed, pre-approved actions agreed to by customers, ensuring quick eviction of intruders before they can cause damage to your customers’ business.

Q. How will the Bitdefender Partner Advantage Network continue to evolve in 2020 and beyond to help partners sell to their customers?

A. (Raluca Avram, Senior Manager, Worldwide Channel Program) The revamped Bitdefender MSP Program offers well-structured incentives, opportunities for increased profitability and accelerated ROI to all Bitdefender cloud partners. We also support all partner types with sales and marketing tools, lead generation programs, sales enablement, hands-on training and certifications, not-for-resale licenses and more. Our Partner Marketing Portal (PMP) supports new partners in the enablement process and offers a suite of materials to jump-start their partnership with Bitdefender. The PMP also helps existing partners manage their entire marketing funnel.

It offers marketing support to better reach prospects, generate leads with better tracking and communicate with customers with content syndication campaigns, social media automation and co-branded materials.

Learn more about the benefits of Bitdefender partnership. Scan here.

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Channel Program

Channel Chief

Criteria By Which Partner Program Tiers Are Determined

eSentire

eSentire Channel Partner Program

Chris Braden, VP, Global Channels, Alliances

Sales/revenue volume, solutions expertise

ESET North America

ESET Partner Connect Program

Jeff Angus, Sr. Director, Channel Sales

Joint business plan, sales/revenue volume, certifications, technical skills

Exabeam

Exabeam Partner Program

Ted Plumis, VP, Channels, Business, Corporate Development

Joint business plan, sales/revenue volume, certifications, technical skills

ExtraHop

Panorama Partner Program

Mark Fitzmaurice, VP, Worldwide Channel Sales

Joint business plan, sales/revenue volume, certifications, technical skills, solutions expertise

Extreme Networks

Extreme Partner Program

Kyle Brown, Director, Channel Sales, Americas

Joint business plan, sales/revenue volume, certifications, technical skills, specialization

F5 Networks

F5 Unity+ Partner Program

Lisa Citron, VP, Worldwide Channel Sales

Sales/revenue volume, certifications, technical skills

FinancialForce

FinancialForce Partner Program

Jeff Edwards, VP, Global Channels

Partner program does not have multiple tiers

Chris Carter, VP, Americas Channel

Joint business plan, sales/revenue volume, certifications, technical skills

FireEye Affinity Partner Program (previously

FireEye

known as FireEye Fuel Partner Program)

Flexential

Flexential Partner Network

Melissa McCoy, VP, Channel Sales

Joint business plan, sales/revenue volume

Flexera

Flexera Partner Program

Cindy Grogan, VP, Global Alliances

Joint business plan, certifications, technical skills, solutions expertise

Forescout Technologies

Forescout Envision Partner Program

Jonathan Corini, VP, Global Channel Sales

Joint business plan, sales/revenue volume, certifications, technical skills

Fortinet

Fortinet Partner Program

Jon Bove, VP, Channel Sales

Joint business plan, sales/revenue volume, certifications, technical skills, solutions expertise, vertical market expertise, specialization

Functionize

Summit Partner Program

Daniel Gannon, VP, Global Alliances, Channels

Sales/revenue volume, certifications, solutions expertise, vertical market expertise, specialization

Fuze

Fuze Global Partner Program

Timothy Puccio, VP, Global Channel, Alliances

Joint business plan, sales/revenue volume, certifications, technical skills, solutions expertise

GFI Software

GFI Partner Program

Pavol Golha, VP, Channel Sales, Sales Engineering

Sales/revenue volume, certifications, technical skills

Gigamon

Catalyst Channel Program

Larissa Crandall, Sr. Director, Channel Sales Americas

Joint business plan, sales/revenue volume, certifications, technical skills

Google Cloud

Google Cloud Partner Advantage

Joint business plan, sales/revenue volume, certifications, Carolee Gearhart, VP, Worldwide technical skills, solutions expertise, vertical market expertise, Channel Sales specialization

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PARTNER PROGRAM GUIDE

Dell Technologies Puts Partners and Customers First With the full impact of the COVID-19 virus uncertain, these are unprecedented times. Our customers are navigating uncertainty and complexity, and it’s up to us – Dell Technologies and you, our partner community – to help them. Through all of this, the full Dell Technologies team is committed to supporting you, too.

It’s a great honor to be part of this remarkable partner community that continues to empower both large and small organizations around the world, especially in these unsettling times. Thank you for your partnership.

“

President, Global Channel, Embedded & Edge Solutions

It’s a great honor to be part of this remarkable partner community that continues to empower both large and small organizations around the world.

“

We are committed to keeping our communities healthy and safe, all while taking care of our customers’ and partners’ most critical needs. We know that our teams and technology are critical in enabling your customers to achieve their business goals in this rapidly changing environment.

Joyce Mullen

Find out more about the Dell Technologies Partner Program at DellTechnologies.com/Partner

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Channel Program

Channel Chief

Criteria By Which Partner Program Tiers Are Determined

Guardicore

Guardicore Partner Program

John W. Ryan, Head of Channels, Alliances, Sls

Joint business plan, sales/revenue volume, technical skills, solutions expertise

Hewlett Packard Enterprise

HPE Partner Ready Program

Paul Hunter, Head of Worldwide Channel Sales

Sales/revenue volume, certifications, technical skills, solutions expertise, vertical market expertise, specialization

Hitachi Vantara

Hitachi Vantara Partner Program

Todd Palmer, SVP, Strategic Partners, Alliances

Joint business plan, sales/revenue volume, certifications, technical skills, solutions expertise

HP Inc.

HP Partner First

Christoph Schell, Chief Commercial Officer

Sales/revenue volume, solutions expertise

HYCU

HYCU Global Partner Program

Bogdan Viher, VP, International Sales, Channels

Joint business plan, sales/revenue volume, certifications, technical skills, solutions expertise, vertical market expertise, specialization

IBM

PartnerWorld

David La Rose, GM, IBM Partner Ecosystem

Sales/revenue volume, certifications, technical skills, solutions expertise

IFS

IFS Partner Network

Merlin Knott, Global Head of Channel

Joint business plan, sales/revenue volume, certifications, technical skills

IGEL

IGEL Partner Program

Brad Tompkins, Chief Sales Officer

Joint business plan, sales/revenue volume, certifications, technical skills, solutions expertise, vertical market expertise, specialization

iland

iland Partner Program

Koorosh Khashayar, VP, Global Channels

Joint business plan, sales/revenue volume, technical skills, solutions expertise, vertical market expertise, specialization

Imperva

Imperva Partner Program

Jim Ritchings, VP, Global Channels

Joint business plan, sales/revenue volume, certifications, technical skills, solutions expertise

Infoblox

BuildingBlox Partner Program

Lori Cornmesser, VP, Worldwide Channel Sales

Joint business plan, sales/revenue volume, certifications, technical skills, solutions expertise, specialization

Infor

Infor Partner Network

Salena Butler, VP, Channels

Joint business plan, sales/revenue volume, certifications, technical skills, solutions expertise, vertical market expertise, specialization

Ingram Micro

Ingram Micro SMB Alliance

Paul Bay, EVP, President, Global Technology Solutions

Partner program does not have multiple tiers

Ingram Micro

Ingram Micro Trust X Alliance

Paul Bay, EVP, President, Global Technology Solutions

Sales/revenue volume, certifications, technical skills, solutions expertise, vertical market expertise, specialization

Intel

Intel Technology Provider Program

Greg Baur, VP, GM, Global Scale, Partners

Sales/revenue volume

IntelePeer

Cloud Advantage Partner Program

Jeremy Jones, Chief Commercial Officer

Joint business plan, sales/revenue volume, solutions expertise, specialization

Intermedia

Intermedia Partner Program

Jonathan McCormick, COO, Head of Sales

Sales/revenue volume

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PARTNER PROGRAM GUIDE

APC Solutions Give You The Winning Edge

Q. How is the APC partner program evolving to keep up with what you’re seeing in the marketplace?

A. The partner ecosystem is becoming much smaller. Partners expect more from their

vendors and customers expect more from partners. We’re creating a program that provides a robust solution, leverages tools and meets our alliances in the channel.

We’re developing more reference architectures that they can use in our local edge configurator. When they’re working with end users and deploying an edge solution, they know what works together. We’re also offering robust discounts to provide great margin on solutions for end users. We’re trying to add value in any way we can.

Q. Can you share examples of specific changes to the APC partner program and explain how those changes will help partners?

infrastructure (such as UPS, PDUs and cooling), and sends people out as needed to remediate problems. If a battery goes dead, we go out and replace it. This is a great opportunity for our channel partners to position as an expansion to their existing managed service offers with minimal investment. They can provide a differentiated experience with best-in-class downtime mitigation, with APC as the silent partner enabling them in the background.

With market changes and the need for compute happening outside of the traditional data center environment, we’ve also created our new EcoStruxure Micro Data Center.

It’s 6U, includes a lithium ion power backup and comes with our NetBotz products.

Our 6U Micro Data Centers are EcoStruxure-enabled, so they can be seen on platforms and monitored. We’re evolving legacy products and complementing them with our software digital services suite, so we can help partners at every angle when it comes to physical IT.

“

Director of NAM Channel Marketing and Strategic Execution

What will always set us apart is our people - in both channel sales and channel marketing. We care about our partners, and we take care to foster strong relationships.

“

A. We have our new Monitoring and Dispatch offer, which monitors critical physical

Gail Fredrickson

Q. How do you keep your partners and your partner program ahead in a crowded marketplace? What’s the intangible value of being with APC that you can’t get from anyone else?

A. Our brand has always been synonymous with trust and reliability. It’s true our products are best-in-class and we continue to innovate and make new investments so we’re ahead of the curve from a technology standpoint. We also ensure our incentive programs are attractive, fair and evolve with our partners’ business models. But what will always set us apart is our people - in both channel sales and channel marketing.

We care about our partners, and we take care to foster strong relationships. Then we back it up with our strong programs, best-in-class products and innovative spirit.

If you aren’t an APC partner and want to take advantage of our evolutionary partner program, sign up today! Visit apc.com/partners to enroll.

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Channel Program

Channel Chief

Criteria By Which Partner Program Tiers Are Determined

Ironscales

Ironscales Partner Program

Adam Hofeler, VP, Worldwide Sales

Joint business plan, sales/revenue volume, certifications, technical skills

Jabra

Jabra One Zone

Cheryle Walline, Head of Channels

Joint business plan, sales/revenue volume, technical skills

Juniper Networks

Juniper Partner Advantage Program

Gordon Mackintosh, VP, Global Partner, Virtual Sales

Joint business plan, sales/revenue volume, certifications, technical skills, solutions expertise, vertical market expertise, specialization

Kaspersky Lab

Kaspersky United

Matthew Courchesne, Head of Channel Sales, North America

Joint business plan, sales/revenue volume, certifications, technical skills, solutions expertise

KnowBe4

KnowBe4 Partner Program

Tony Jennings, SVP, Global Channel Sales

Sales/revenue volume, certifications, technical skills

Laura Blackmer, SVP, Dealer Sales

Partner program does not have multiple tiers

Konica Minolta Konica Minolta Dealer Business Solutions Program U.S.A Laserfiche

Laserfiche Solution Provider Program

Hedy Belttary, SVP, Sales

Sales/revenue volume

Lenovo

Lenovo Partner Engage Program

Rob Cato, VP, North America Channel

Sales/revenue volume

Lexmark

Lexmark Connect

Sammy Kinlaw, Worldwide VP, Channel OEM, Sales

Sales/revenue volume, certifications, solutions expertise, vertical market expertise, specialization

LogicMonitor

LogicMonitor Partner Network

Sanjay Gupta, Global VP, Channels, Strategic Alliances

Sales/revenue volume, certifications, technical skills

Loop Communications

Loop Communications Partner Program

James McKinney, President

Partner program does not have multiple tiers

Loqate,

Loqate Global Partner Program

Justin Duling, SVP, Commercial Director

Joint business plan, sales/revenue volume, vertical market expertise, specialization

Malwarebytes

Malwarebytes Premier Partner Program

Mike LaPeters, VP, Worldwide MSP, Channel Operations

Sales/revenue volume, certifications, technical skills

McAfee

MPACT

Ken McCray, Head of Channel Sales, Operations, Americas

Sales/revenue volume, certifications, technical skills

Micro Focus

Micro Focus Partner Program

Mike O'Neill, President, Worldwide Indirect Sales

Joint business plan, sales/revenue volume, certifications, technical skills

Microsoft

Microsoft Partner Network

Gavriella Schuster, Corporate VP, One Commercial Partner

Sales/revenue volume, technical skills, solutions expertise, specialization

Mist Partner Program

Mike Anderson, Head of Worldwide Channels

Joint business plan, sales/revenue volume, certifications, technical skills, solutions expertise, vertical market expertise, specialization

a GBG solution

Mist,

a Juniper Company

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PARTNER PROGRAM GUIDE

Own The Future With Nutanix Disruption is the new constant in the ever-changing world of technology. It’s a world that rewards vision and shuns tradition. With Nutanix, you’ve come to the right place – where trust, transformation and profitability live large.

Sell a flexible, open technology platform created for tomorrow, that you can market today. That’s brimming with innovation. That’s proven, mature and ready to roll.

Whatever your future’s set on – from delivering established enterprise solutions like EUC, to supporting demanding data-driven apps, to realizing multi-cloud benefits for your customers – say hello to the future today. Own it with Nutanix.

Christian Alvarez

Q. Why do partners invest in Nutanix?

Vice President Americas Channel, OEM & Distribution

A. We’re humbled and honored for our partner program to receive a 5-Star Rating in

Q. What is the opportunity ahead for Nutanix partners?

A. We want to empower our partners to drive success by delivering solutions that power and scale the world’s most-critical enterprise applications and workloads like end-user computing, hybrid cloud, databases and business continuity. Partners play a vital role in bringing our transformative technology to customers. Nutanix is the only independent software OS vendor in the market that is hypervisor, protocol and location-agnostic, giving customers the freedom of choice in the modern cloud era.

“

Whatever your future’s set on – from delivering established enterprise solutions like EUC, to supporting demanding data-driven apps, to realizing multicloud benefits for your customers – say hello to the future today. Own it with Nutanix.

“

the 2020 CRN Partner Program Guide, and it’s due to the simple fact that we invest in our partners as they invest in us. We are a 100 percent partner-centric organization with a hungry, results-driven team dedicated to joint success with our partners. With a 90+ five-year average NPS and 97 percent customer-retention rate, we are a trusted vendor focused on customer delight and enabling our partners to deliver Nutanix solutions to market. From achieving certifications to marketing investments, we recognize multiple aspects of partner performance beyond revenue targets.

Q. How is Nutanix helping partners become profitable?

A. From front-end deal margins to strategic rep and back-end promotions, we offer

incentives that are attractive and competitive. Through our services offerings and specializations, our partners have the opportunity to build their services business for the long-term. Additionally, partners are able to build a more self-sustaining revenue model with subscription pricing, workload expansion opportunities and high repurchase rates.

Visit www.nutanix.com/partners to take your next step and discover the wealth of resources available to accelerate your business with Nutanix.

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Channel Program

Channel Chief

Criteria By Which Partner Program Tiers Are Determined

Mitel

Mitel Global Partner Program

John Lindsley, VP, Channels

Sales/revenue volume, certifications, technical skills

Morpheus Data

Morpheus Data MVP Program

Tina Valdez, COO

Joint business plan, sales/revenue volume, certifications, technical skills

NEC Corporation of America

NEC Smart Partner Program for Solution Integrators

Paul Kievit, SVP, Head of NEC Enterprise Business

Sales/revenue volume, certifications, technical skills

NEC Display Solutions of America

NEC Partner Net

Richard Hutton, Sr. Director, Channel Marketing

Partner program does not have multiple tiers

NetApp

NetApp Unified Partner Program

Chris Lamborn, Head of Global Partner GTM, Programs

Sales/revenue volume, certifications, technical skills, solutions expertise, vertical market expertise, specialization

NetDocuments

NetDocuments Partner Program

Reza Parsia, VP, Strategic Partner Management

Joint business plan, sales/revenue volume, certifications, technical skills, solutions expertise, vertical market expertise, specialization

Netskope

Netskope Evolve Partner Program

David Rogers, VP, Worldwide Alliances, Channel Sales

Joint business plan, certifications, technical skills

Netsurion

Netsurion Partner Program

Guy Cunningham, VP, Channel Sales, Alliances

Sales/revenue volume, technical skills

Netwrix

Netwrix Partner Program

Ken Tripp, Director, Channels

Joint business plan, sales/revenue volume, certifications, technical skills

Nexsan, A StorCentric Company

Nexsan Partner Program

Read Fenner, VP, Global Sales

Partner program does not have multiple tiers

Carl Katz, Channel Chief

Joint business plan, sales/revenue volume, certifications, technical skills

Nextiva

Nextiva Amazing Partner Program (Evolving to Nextiva Partner NeXus in 07/2020)

Nintex

Nintex Partner Program

Joe Peterson, Sr. Director, Channel Sales, Strategy

Joint business plan, sales/revenue volume, certifications, technical skills, solutions expertise, vertical market expertise, specialization

Nitel

Nitel Channel Program

Mark Dickey, EVP, Sales, Marketing

Joint business plan, sales/revenue volume

NS1

NS1 Channel Program

Warren Mead, VP, Channel, Strategic Accounts

Partner program does not have multiple tiers

Nutanix

Nutanix Channel Charter

Christian Alvarez, VP, Americas Channel

Sales/revenue volume, certifications, technical skills, solutions expertise

Nvidia

Nvidia Partner Network

Alvin Dacosta, Sr. Director, Channel Programs

Joint business plan, sales/revenue volume, certifications, technical skills, solutions expertise, vertical market expertise, specialization

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PARTNER PROGRAM GUIDE

Sophos Makes Partnership Simple, Profitable, Flexible Q. CRN has perennially named Sophos a 5-Star Partner Program going back almost a decade. How has Sophos kept its Partner Program ahead of the competition and foremost in the minds of solution providers?

A. Sophos distinguishes itself by offering unmatched protection backed by our stead-

fast channel commitment and a simple and profitable partner program. Whether you resell our products, offer managed services or have a dedicated security practice, we give you the industry’s most complete offering of award-winning security products so you can earn more of your customers’ security budget. As well, we help you win more deals, with competitive intelligence, pre-sales and technical support, and dedicated channel sales and sales engineering teams. Sophos invests in your success with comarketing programs, tools and resources. You can grow your business successfully, with the reassurance that you are fully supported by our channel-best commitment.

A. Partners choose to work with Sophos because they want the best protection for

their customers. As cyberthreats increase in complexity, Sophos gives partners the industry’s most effective protection against these threats, with AI-powered, cloudnative solutions that are fully synchronized between firewall and endpoints. With synchronized security, the world’s first – and best – cybersecurity as a system, our products share information in real-time to improve protection and automatically respond to threats. As well, with award-winning cybersecurity solutions to secure physical, managed and cloud environments, partners can offer the solutions that best fit their customers’ unique needs.

“

Senior Vice President, Global Channels and Sales Operations

Our channel-best strategy guides everything we do at Sophos. Our partners are key to our success, and we are unwavering in our commitment to theirs.

“

Q. There are so many vendors out there right now, particularly in the security space. How does Sophos differentiate itself with its security offerings when it comes to attracting potential partners and retaining existing ones?

Kendra Krause

Q. Cybersecurity is complicated. The marketplace is crowded. Solution providers have a lot of options when it comes to choosing their security vendor. Why partner with Sophos?

A. Modern IT environments are constantly evolving and growing more complex, and so are the tactics and techniques used by cybercriminals. Your IT security needs to evolve to keep up. From network and endpoint to cloud security, Sophos has the products to meet the challenges of today and tomorrow. Sophos offers unrivaled security and partner focus, alongside award-winning innovative security solutions. Our security offering is complete, yet innovative and easy to manage within the cloudbased Sophos Central. We prioritize our partners in everything we do, from product development to sales, marketing and support. We’ll help you retain and grow your customer base and increase profits.

Find out more about the Sophos Partner Program at www.sophos.com/partners

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2 0 2 0 PA R T N E R P R O G R A M G U I D E Company

Channel Program

Channel Chief

Criteria By Which Partner Program Tiers Are Determined

Okta

Okta Partner Connect

Patrick McCue, SVP, Worldwide Partners

Joint business plan, sales/revenue volume, certifications, technical skills, solutions expertise

Onapsis

The Onapsis nCase Partner Program

Darren Gaeta, VP, Worldwide Alliances, Channels

Partner program does not have multiple tiers

One Identity

One Identity Partner Circle Program

Andrew Clarke, Head of Global Channel Strategy

Sales/revenue volume, certifications, technical skills

Oracle NetSuite

NetSuite Solution Provider Program

Craig West, VP, Alliances, Channels

Sales/revenue volume, certifications, vertical market expertise

Paessler AG

The Paessler Partner Program

Sebastian Krueger, Regional Manager Americas, VP

Sales/revenue volume, certifications, technical skills

Palo Alto Networks

NextWave Partner Program

Karl Soderlund, SVP, Worldwide Channel Sales

Joint business plan, sales/revenue volume, certifications, technical skills

Brandon Williams, Director, U.S. Mobility Channel

Sales/revenue volume

Sales/revenue volume, certifications, technical skills, solutions expertise, vertical market expertise, specialization

Panasonic System Toughbook Authorized Solutions Company Mobility Partner of North America Program

Panzura

Freedom and Vizion.ai Partner Program

Jason McKinney, Chief Revenue Officer

Park Place Technologies

Park Place Technologies Channel

Ted Rieple III, Chief Sales Officer Sales/revenue volume

Pax8

Wingman Partner Program

Ryan Walsh, Chief Channel Officer

Partner program does not have multiple tiers

PC Matic

PC Matic Pro Partner Program

Rob Cheng, CEO

Joint business plan

Pivot3

Global Partner Program

Nicole Cardenas, Director, Channel Marketing

Joint business plan, sales/revenue volume, certifications, technical skills

PKWARE

PKWARE Partner Program

Mitch Simon, Sr. Director, North America Channels

Partner program does not have multiple tiers

PlanetOne

PlanetOne Partner Program

Jonathan Hartman, SVP, Sales

Sales/revenue volume

Progress Software

Progress Accelerate

Joan Groleau, Sr. Director, Global Partner Program

Joint business plan, sales/revenue volume, certifications, technical skills

Pure Storage

Pure Partner Program

Andy Martin, VP, Global Channel Sales

Joint business plan, sales/revenue volume, certifications, technical skills, solutions expertise

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PARTNER PROGRAM GUIDE

Scale Hyperconverged Heights In Edge Computing Q. How will the rise of data being created outside the data center impact the channel?

A. In 2020, the demand from businesses who want to harness the power of edge computing with hyperconverged infrastructure is forecast to increase.

This will create opportunities for channel organizations across all industries and sizes of organizations. In fact, Gartner research found that 10 percent of enterprise-generated data is created and processed outside the data center or cloud and, by 2022, this figure will reach 50 percent.

A. Scale Computing’s next-generation hyperconverged IT infrastructure, like our HE150, which is small enough to hold in your hand, expands the data center conversation beyond just the four walls of the production data center to regional offices, VDI deployments and small branch offices.

Instead of deploying a single server, customers and partners can deploy a three-node HE150 cluster at the same price point.

Q. What hyperconverged solutions does Scale Computing offer and how do those solutions give Scale partners an advantage?

A. An edge-to-core HCI platform like HC3 by Scale Computing offers a unique competitive advantage by being able to handle all of those workloads under a single management console with centralized upgrade management, zero-touch deployments and custom orchestration.

Q. Why should solution providers partner with Scale Computing?

A. Working with Scale Computing, partners can take advantage of easy-

Scott Mann

“

Director of North America Channel, Scale Computing

Our platform is revolutionizing the way companies of all sizes do business at the edge. Our smallest edge cluster is now so small it fits into the palm of your hand, which makes it ideal for businesses that only have a few employees on site. Using our HC3 platform, partners and customers can expand their core data center to their smallest remote sites but still centrally manage all of their workloads and data from one single console.

“

Q. How has Scale Computing responded to the explosion of data being created outside the data center?

to-use, highly available and cost-effective solutions for IT teams of all sizes, across MSPs, ROBOs and distributed enterprises. For partners, this helps fuel customer demand and creates a competitive advantage by being able to handle multiple workloads under a single management console with centralized upgrade management, zero-touch deployments and custom orchestration.

Learn more: https://www.scalecomputing.com/partners

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2 0 2 0 PA R T N E R P R O G R A M G U I D E Company

Channel Program

Channel Chief

Criteria By Which Partner Program Tiers Are Determined

Qlik

Qlik Partner Program

Chris Moore, SVP, Global Partners, Alliances

Joint business plan, sales/revenue volume, certifications, technical skills, solutions expertise, vertical market expertise, specialization

QOS Networks

QOS Networks Channel Program

Mike Kalas, SVP, Go To Market

Partner program does not have multiple tiers

Quantum

Quantum Alliance

Elizabeth (Liz) King, Chief Revenue Officer

Joint business plan, sales/revenue volume, certifications, technical skills

Qumulo

Partner1st

Gregg Machon, VP, Worldwide Channels

Partner program does not have multiple tiers

Recorded Future

Recorded Future Channel R.E.P Program

Chris Catanzaro, VP, Channel Sales

Joint business plan

Red Hat

Red Hat Partner Connect

Mark Enzweiler, SVP, Global Partners, Alliances

Joint business plan, sales/revenue volume, certifications, technical skills, solutions expertise, specialization

RedSeal

RedSeal Partner Program

Jay Miller, VP, Worldwide Commercial Sales

Joint business plan, sales/revenue volume, technical skills, solutions expertise, vertical market expertise

Retrospect Partner Program

Jean Christian Dumas, VP, Worldwide Sales

Sales/revenue volume, certifications, technical skills

RingCentral

RingCentral Partner Program

Zane Long, SVP, Global Channel Sales

Joint business plan, sales/revenue volume, certifications, technical skills, solutions expertise

Riverbed

Riverbed Rise

Bridget Bisnette, SVP, Global Channel Sales

Sales/revenue volume, certifications, technical skills

RSA

SecurWorld

Brian Breton, Sr. Director, Global Channel Strategy, Americas Channel Sales

Sales/revenue volume, certifications, technical skills

Rubrik

Rubrik Velocity Partner Program

Bertrand Yansouni, VP, Worldwide Channel

Joint business plan, sales/revenue volume, certifications, technical skills, solutions expertise

Sage Intacct

Sage Intacct Partner Program

Taylor Macdonald, SVP, Channel Sales

Partner program does not have multiple tiers

Salesforce

Salesforce Partner Program

J.C. Collins, VP, COO, Industries, Partners

Sales/revenue volume, certifications, technical skills, solutions expertise, vertical market expertise, specialization

Samsung Electronics America

Samsung Ascend

Michael Coleman, VP, Mobile Channel Sales

Sales/revenue volume

SAP

SAP PartnerEdge

Karl Fahrbach, Chief Partner Officer

Joint business plan, sales/revenue volume, certifications, technical skills, solutions expertise, vertical market expertise, specialization

Retrospect, a StorCentric Company

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PARTNER PROGRAM GUIDE

An Open Letter About The Power Of Community The power of community is just as important during times of uncertainty as it is in boom markets. Having the advantage of a broad ecosystem of partners, experts and resources will be a mandate as technology solutions are even more in demand, and complex to deliver.

Among the many resources we offer our channel partners, including our new Future Funds and Kickstart financing programs, nothing compares to the partnerships and knowledge sharing we see each and every day within our two partner communities – SMB Alliance and Trust X Alliance. If you’re not already a member, I encourage you to take a closer look and get involved, especially now as more and more businesses look to you to help them.

Whether you’re an aspiring or fast-growing MSP, or an established IT services pro, Ingram Micro’s communities are proven to help partners just like you achieve a higher level of success at a faster pace than you could on your own.

And the same is true for channel-friendly manufacturers who want to build meaningful relationships with a core group of successful partners.

“

U.S. Chief Country Executive

Ingram Micro’s communities are proven to help partners just like you achieve a higher level of success at a faster pace than you could on your own.

“

The Ingram Micro SMB Alliance and Trust X Alliance are 5-Star partner communities that represent approximately 700 of the industry’s best and brightest growth-minded solution providers and manufacturers. Both offering unique benefits, these communities share a common goal of enabling their members to learn and grow together through knowledge sharing and partnership.

Kirk Robinson

Our two communities provide a forum to connect and collaborate with one another, create new business opportunities and partner to deliver more technology solutions and services. As a member, you gain access to like-minded peers who want to share best practices, work smarter and grow together.

Additionally, members have exclusive programs and privileges direct from Ingram Micro including select financing solutions, training, dedicated support, targeted events and more.

If you’re going it alone or struggling to find the right partner ecosystem to serve the business needs and deliver the outcomes your customers want, the time is now to join one of our two 5-Star partner communities. We are here to help.

Ingram Micro is here to help you achieve a higher level of success at a faster pace than you could alone. Visit bit.ly/IMcomm today!

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2 0 2 0 PA R T N E R P R O G R A M G U I D E Company

Channel Program

Channel Chief

Criteria By Which Partner Program Tiers Are Determined

Scale Computing

Scale Computing Partner Community

Dave Hallmen, Chief Revenue Officer

Joint business plan, sales/revenue volume, certifications, technical skills, solutions expertise

Schneider Electric

EcoXpert Partner Program

Nicolas Windpassinger, VP, EcoXpert Partner Program

Joint business plan, sales/revenue volume, certifications, technical skills, solutions expertise, vertical market expertise, specialization

Seeburger

Seeburger Partner Program

Ulf Persson, SVP, Global Business Development

Partner program does not have multiple tiers

SentinelOne

SentinelOne Partner Program

Tim Mackie, VP, Worldwide Channels

Joint business plan, sales/revenue volume, certifications, technical skills

Sharp Electronics

Sharp Alliance Plus

John Sheehan, SVP, Channel Sales

Partner program does not have multiple tiers

Siemens Digital Industries Software

Siemens Digital Industries Software Solution Partner Program

Jeff Zobrist, VP, Global Solution Partner Sales

Joint business plan, sales/revenue volume, certifications, technical skills, solutions expertise, vertical market expertise, specialization

Silver Peak Systems

Silver Peak Global Partner Edge Channel Program

Michael O'Brien, VP, Worldwide Partner Sales

Joint business plan, certifications, technical skills, solutions expertise

Skout Cybersecurity

Skout Partner Program

Mike Hanauer, Chief Revenue Officer

Joint business plan, sales/revenue volume

SkyKick

SkyKick IT Cloud Partner Program

Eric Jewett, VP, International

Partner program does not have multiple tiers

Smartsheet

Smartsheet Aligned

Steve Stewart, Head of Global Channels

Joint business plan, sales/revenue volume, certifications, technical skills, solutions expertise, vertical market expertise

SolarWinds MSP

SolarWinds MSP Channel Partner Program

Mike Cullen, Group VP, Partner Success

Partner program does not have multiple tiers

SonicWall

SecureFirst Partner Program

HoJin Kim, VP, Global Channel Sales

Joint business plan, sales/revenue volume, specialization

Sophos

Sophos Partner Program

Kendra Krause, SVP, Global Channels, Sales Operations

Sales/revenue volume, certifications, technical skills

Spectrum

Spectrum Partner Program

Chris Czekaj, VP, Strategic Sales

Sales/revenue volume

Spirion

Spirion Partner Alliance Program

Jason Abbott, VP, Channel Sales

Joint business plan, sales/revenue volume, certifications, technical skills, solutions expertise, vertical market expertise

Splunk

Splunk Partner + Program

Aziz Benmalek, VP, Worldwide Partners, Business Development, Channel Chief

Sales/revenue volume, certifications, technical skills

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PARTNER PROGRAM GUIDE

Communication Helps Vonage, Channel Partners Win Together Q. What separates Vonage from others in the unified communication space?

A. The utility of our product set has never been higher and owning our own UC, CC and API tech stacks lets us develop faster and offer a better customer experience.

We are uniquely situated to enable our partners to deliver communication solutions that help businesses improve digital engagement with their customers and, in doing so, enhance both customer and employee experience to create greater satisfaction and brand loyalty. Together, with our channel partners, we are strongly positioned to quickly deliver to businesses the ability to bring offices, employees and customers together -- from anywhere in the world.

Irfan Fazulla

Q. What is Vonage Teaming+ and how does it benefit solution providers? incremental value to our channel partners’ sales conversion goals. Our fast-paced Teaming+ approach is one of our biggest channel differentiators, putting a subjectmatter expert, sales engineer and a Vonage sales professional on our partners’ team to help them discover, demo, quote, negotiate and close more deals. Our partners have recognized it as a smart and easy way to immediately expand their solutions expertise, sales footprint and increase their earning potential at zero cost to their residual commission.

Q. How will the Vonage Partner Network evolve in 2020 and beyond to stay ahead of the competition and be the first choice for unified communication solution providers?

A. Improving partner experience is the driving force behind ALL Vonage sales, prod-

uct, operational and marketing efforts. Our SVP of Channel Sales Mario DeRiggi is leading an aggressive partner experience enhancement initiative, PX360, with the singular goal of providing an even more holistic partner experience in 2020 and beyond.

Senior Director, Marketing Partnerships & Strategy

“

Together, with our channel partners, we are strongly positioned to quickly deliver to businesses the ability to bring offices, employees and customers together — from anywhere in the world.

“

A. Teaming up with a local, highly trained Vonage field sales professional adds

We have made significant investments in growing on-demand regional pre- and post-sales implementation and engineering teams to ensure swift deal packaging and conversion. We are also enhancing dedicated partner program teams to evaluate and develop efficient workflows that swiftly process daily transactions with channel partners.

Additionally, we have revamped our partner portal for greater ease of access and greatly simplified the onboarding experience. We have also added more dedicated product training capabilities and are providing greater to-and-through marketing support to help partners better capture demand regionally to expand their market share.

All of these steps are a testament to our commitment to give our partners peace of mind, ease of use and profitability.

Scan here or visit www.vonage.com/channel to learn more about the Vonage Partner Network

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2 0 2 0 PA R T N E R P R O G R A M G U I D E Company

Channel Program

Channel Chief

Criteria By Which Partner Program Tiers Are Determined

Sprint

Sprint Partner Program

Amy Rintamaki, VP, Indirect Sales, Strategy

Joint business plan, sales/revenue volume

Star2Star Communications

Star2Star Partner Program

Michelle Accardi, President, Chief Revenue Officer

Partner program does not have multiple tiers

StorageCraft Technology

StorageCraft Partner Success Program

Andy Zollo, VP, Worldwide Sales Sales/revenue volume, certifications

StorMagic

StorMagic Channel Program

Brian Grainger, Chief Revenue Officer

Partner program does not have multiple tiers

SUSE

SUSE Partner Program

Rachel Cassidy, SVP, Global Channel

Joint business plan, certifications, technical skills

Synnex

Security and Networking Program

Michael Urban, President, Worldwide Technology Solutions Distribution

Partner program does not have multiple tiers

Synnex

SMB Connect

Michael Urban, President, Worldwide Technology Solutions Distribution

Partner program does not have multiple tiers

Synnex

Stellr

Michael Urban, President, Worldwide Technology Solutions Distribution

Joint business plan, sales/revenue volume, certifications

Synnex

Varnex

Michael Urban, President, Worldwide Technology Solutions Distribution

Partner program does not have multiple tiers

Tech Data

Digital Cloud Practice Builder

Rich Hume, CEO

Partner program does not have multiple tiers

Tech Data

IoT and Analytics Practice Builder Roadshow

Rich Hume, CEO

Partner program does not have multiple tiers

Tenable

Tenable Assure Partner Program

Terry Dolce, SVP, Global Channels

Joint business plan, sales/revenue volume, certifications, technical skills

Thales

Thales Accelerate Partner Network

Dave Jordan, Sr. Director, Global Sales/revenue volume, technical skills Partner Programs, Strategy

ThreatQuotient

Threat Alliance Program Haig Colter, Director, Alliances

Partner program does not have multiple tiers

Thycotic

Thycotic Partner Program

Bob Gagnon, VP, Channel Sales

Joint business plan, sales/revenue volume, certifications, technical skills, solutions expertise, vertical market expertise, specialization

Tibco

Acceleration Partner Program

Jason Johns, VP, Global Partner, Alliances

Joint business plan, certifications, technical skills, vertical market expertise, specialization

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PARTNER PROGRAM GUIDE

Nextiva Offers Partners More Through CoNEXtion Q. Why is demand generation so difficult for solution providers?

A. Many partners who have sold telecom for 25 to 30 years haven’t done marketing in the past. They’re sales-heavy. In this cloud world, they know they must learn to fish and bring in new customers, but they struggle with knowing where and how to begin. To many partners, marketing seems expensive and time-consuming. Most providers create campaigns in a box, but don’t provide the tools or training for partners to deploy or strategize. With CoNEXtion, we built an entire framework of campaigns, deployment tools, reporting analytics and strategy resources to ensure partners could deploy easily while creating a true end-to-end demand gen strategy.

available for partners. It’s more than 12 tools that enable partners to build and deploy event, email, social and digital campaigns in less than 15 minutes. I wanted to create something super easy to use. Once the partners set up a profile, which takes five minutes, and upload a logo once, it auto-populates every asset going forward so campaigns are ready for them at any instant. From there, our field marketing team works alongside the partners to teach them how to create integrated marketing campaigns, syndicate and generate leads, and understand and act on their campaign reports.

Additionally, CoNEXtion is an evolving platform. Any time a partner gives feedback, I have an ongoing list of tweaks to make the user experience as easy as possible. Landing pages didn’t exist two months ago, and developers built it over a weekend.

Q. Who’s the ideal Nextiva partner?

A. We have three main types of partners: veteran telecom resellers, MSPs and “born-in-

the-cloud” providers. These are partners in North America who focus on customers with 50 to 1,000 employees.

MeiLee Langley

Director of Channel Marketing

“

My ultimate goal with our CoNEXtion platform is to make demand generation easy, affordable and quick, so our partners can focus on what they do best - selling and closing deals.

“

Q. What is Nextiva CoNEXtion and what sets it apart from the competition?

A. It’s our partner demand suite, and the industry’s first true end-to-end demand suite

Q. How does Nextiva support its channel partners?

A. We have amazing regional support in the form of channel managers, field marketing

managers and solution engineers, as well as specialized implementation and support teams.

Amazing Support is a trademark of our company. We value deals of any size, and want our partners supported at every level - no deal is too large or too small. Additionally, Nextiva wants to partner and provide comprehensive marketing strategy and support with CoNEXtion.

Q. How is Nextiva’s partner program evolving to meet its partners’ needs?

A. We’re launching a new partner program, NeXus, in July, which will offer added benefits

and resources for our partners. Resources and teams including pre- and post-sales support, demand generation and field marketing, and training and certifications will be better aligned to partners to help them grow their business.

Learn more about the benefits of partnering with Nextiva at https://www.nextiva.com/x/CoNEXtion/

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2 0 2 0 PA R T N E R P R O G R A M G U I D E Company

Channel Program

Channel Chief

Criteria By Which Partner Program Tiers Are Determined

Trilio

Trilio Partner Program

Tom Lahive, VP, Alliances, Strategic Accounts

Partner program does not have multiple tiers

Tripp Lite

Tripp Lite Partner Program and Premier Partner Program

Shane Kilfoil, SVP, Global Sales

Joint business plan, sales/revenue volume, certifications, technical skills, solutions expertise, specialization

UiPath

UiPath Business Partner Program

Cheryln Chin, VP, Global Partners, Alliances

Joint business plan, sales/revenue volume, certifications, technical skills, solutions expertise

Unitrends Partner Program

Adam Larrabee, VP, North America Sales, Channels

Joint business plan, sales/revenue volume, certifications, technical skills

Valimail

Valimail Partner Program

Steve Mock, VP, Business Development

Partner program does not have multiple tiers

Veeam Software

Veeam ProPartner Program

Kevin Rooney, VP, Americas Partner Sales

Joint business plan, sales/revenue volume, certifications, technical skills, specialization

Veracode

Veracode Partner Program

Leslie Bois, VP, Global Channel Alliances

Joint business plan, sales/revenue volume, technical skills

Verizon

Verizon Partner Program

Pete Leuzzi, GVP, Head of Worldwide Channels, Alliances

Joint business plan, sales/revenue volume, technical skills, solutions expertise

Vertiv

Vertiv Partner Program

Alison Webb, Director, Channel Marketing

Sales/revenue volume

Viavi Solutions

Viavi Velocity Partner Program

Barry Johnson, VP, Global Channels

Joint business plan, sales/revenue volume, technical skills, solutions expertise, vertical market expertise, specialization

VMware

CloudHealth Partner Program

Jenni Flinders, Global Channel Chief

Joint business plan, sales/revenue volume, certifications, technical skills, solutions expertise

VMware

VMware Partner Connect

Jenni Flinders, Global Channel Chief

Joint business plan, sales/revenue volume, certifications, technical skills, solutions expertise, specialization

Vonage

Vonage Partner Network

Mario DeRiggi, SVP, National Channel Sales, Operations

Sales/revenue volume, certifications

Voyant

Brian Parsons, Channel Chief, Voyant Partner Program Executive Director, Enterprise Sales

Wasabi Technologies

Wasabi Partner Network

Marty Falaro, SVP, Global Sales, Alliances

Joint business plan, sales/revenue volume, certifications, solutions expertise, vertical market expertise

WatchGuard Technologies

WatchGuardONE

Michelle Welch, SVP, Marketing

Certifications, technical skills

Unitrends, A Kaseya Company

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Partner program does not have multiple tiers

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2 0 2 0 PA R T N E R P R O G R A M G U I D E Company

Channel Program

Channel Chief

Criteria By Which Partner Program Tiers Are Determined

WekaIO

Weka Innovation Network

Andrew Perry, VP, Sales

Joint business plan, sales/revenue volume, certifications, technical skills, solutions expertise, vertical market expertise

Workfront

Workfront Partner Network

Paige Erickson, SVP, Business Development

Partner program does not have multiple tiers

X1

X1 Partner Program

Sheena Gaynes, Sr. Director, Global Channel Sales

Partner program does not have multiple tiers

Xerox

Xerox Global Partner Program

Debbie Purfurst, VP, Channel Sales

Sales/revenue volume, certifications, technical skills

Zebra Technologies

Zebra PartnerConnect

Jeff Barteld, Sr. Director, Channel Strategy, PartnerConnect, Partner Enablement

Joint business plan, sales/revenue volume, certifications, technical skills, solutions expertise, vertical market expertise, specialization

Zerto

The Zerto Alliance Program

Jim Ortbals, VP, Global Cloud, Channel

Joint business plan, sales/revenue volume, certifications

ZOOM International

ZOOM International Channel Program

Matt Schaefer, VP, Channels

Partner program does not have multiple tiers

Zoom Video Communications

Zoom Channel Partner Program

Laura Padilla, Head of Global Channels, Business Development

Joint business plan, sales/revenue volume, certifications, technical skills, solutions expertise

Zscaler

Zscaler Partner Program

Al Caravelli, VP, Global Alliances, Channels

Joint business plan, sales/revenue volume, certifications, technical skills, solutions expertise, vertical market expertise, specialization

Zyxel Communications

Zyxel Authorized Partner Program

Brian Tien, VP, Global Sales, Marketing

Sales/revenue volume

2020 CR N

PARTN E R

PROGRAM GUIDE

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I NTE R N ET OF TH I NG S 50

Realizing The Promise Of IoT Key will be giving solution providers the building blocks to scale their solutions to multiple customers

and deliver value-added services

By Dylan Martin

B

usinesses are increasingly viewing the practice of gathering information through sensors and controlling a variety of physical systems as an important part of their IT infrastructure. As evidence of that trend, research firm IDC in its latest global spending forecast said it expects businesses to spend $1.1 trillion on IoT projects in 2023.

But to make those IoT projects possible, businesses rely on a variety of vendors to cover everything from the hardware and security to the software and connectivity, as well as solutions that allow businesses to draw data from industrial control systems. And in many cases, the products from these vendors need to be combined for businesses to realize their full value.

“When you end up with one of these complex solutions, you could have 15 vendors in a single solution,” said Pam Miller, director of infrastructure channels research at IDC, in an interview with CRN. Vendors alone, however, can’t get businesses to the IoT finish line. By 2021, more than 75 percent of organizations plan to turn to solution providers—whether they be system integrators, managed service providers or value-added resellers—to handle the complex integration, software development, management and support work necessary for IoT, according to an IDC FutureScape 2020 report.

“Most companies don’t have an ‘IoT guy.’ They don’t have advanced analytics in-house,” Miller said. “That’s why, increasingly, they’re looking to channel partners, service providers and various other people that have those skills on board to be able to help them get to the solution they’re looking for.”

But it’s not just as simple as vendors opening arms to solution providers. Solution providers are looking for building blocks they can use to more easily scale solutions to multiple customers and focus on value-added services.

“What we in the IT channel are looking for is a packaged solution that we can sell,” said Luis Alvarez, president and CEO of Alvarez Technology Group, a Salinas, Calif.-based solution provider that has made inroads in connected agriculture with IoT building automation vendor KMC Controls.

44

“We don’t want to have to go out and buy a bunch of components and create our own thing,” Alvarez said. “We want to be able to say, ‘Hey, we have this package for greenhouse management, or we have this package for building management, we know how it works, we can install it, we can sell it, we can make money.’”

What’s made it easier for solution providers to adopt IoT and work with a variety of hardware and software solutions is the connectivity work being done by cloud service providers such as Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure and Google Cloud, according to Stephen DiFranco, a former Broadcom and Lenovo executive who is founding principal of IoT Advisory Group.

“These tools are now coming online from Google, from Amazon and from Microsoft, which make plugging endpoint devices into the cloud a lot easier,” he said.

There is also work being done by OEMs like Cisco Systems and Aruba, a Hewlett Packard Enterprise company to curate and build native support for a variety of applications on their systems.

“You’re starting to see them now build libraries of applications that can sit on top of their network that partners can sell,” DiFranco said. “And this is really valuable because the partners are really having a hard time with sorting out, ‘which app should I use?’”

With IoT moving demand for high-performance computing from the cloud to the edge, solution providers now have an opportunity to build out and manage a new kind of network topology that consists of endpoints, edge gateways and cloud servers, according to DiFranco. And it’s from there that a new foundation of applications and business value can be created.

“I think what we’re going to see in IoT is really the big brands bringing along on the back of their hardware [the] software solutions to help connect, compile, collect and calculate data,” he said. “I think it’s really going to be through that.”

For solution providers just getting started in IoT and those who have already established businesses in the field, CRN presents the 50 coolest IoT companies of the year across connectivity, hardware, industrial IoT, security and software. ■

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10 Coolest IoT CONNECTIVITY COMPANIES

Comcast

CHAIRMAN, CEO: BRIAN L. ROBERTS Philadelphia-based Comcast is connecting enterprises to low-power, wide-area networks for IoT deployments with its machineQ suite of hardware and software offerings, which includes gateways, sensors and the MQcentral device management software platform that is designed to handle every stage of development.

Helium

CO-FOUNDER, CEO: AMIR HALEEM

Connectivity is critical to IoT, which is why there’s an increasing incentive for vendors to build out new and innovative offerings that can address big issues like density, latency and device management. These vendors are tackling connectivity in a variety of ways, whether it’s selling cryptocurrency-mining gateways to crowdsource networks or building an entire suite of mobility offerings to make it easier for businesses to get started. 5G may be coming for IoT in the future, but the need for connectivity is now, so vendors are introducing new software, services and hardware to get the job done.

What follows are the 10 coolest IoT connectivity companies of 2020.

Aeris Communications

CHAIRMAN, CEO: MARC JONES San Jose, Calif.-based Aeris Communications is making it easier for enterprises to create IoT mobility businesses with Aeris Mobility Suite, a set of software and services that provides the necessary building blocks for applications ranging from fleet management to location tracking.

AT&T

CEO: RANDALL STEPHENSON As the momentum for 5G starts to take off, Dallas-based AT&T is forging multiple partnerships to extend its IoT capabilities and offerings, which include a new partnership with Vodafone Business to make it easier for customers to create massive IoT deployments.

BehrTech

FOUNDER, CEO: ALBERT BEHR BehrTech is pushing an alternative to LoRa—the proprietary low-power, wide-area network technology for IoT devices—with its MyThings software that uses a protocol called MIOTY to provide long-range, low-power communication with lower interference and support for standard gateways and sensors.

San Francisco-based Helium is crowdsourcing IoT connectivity with its LongFi wireless network that promises 200 times the range of Wi-Fi at 1/1,000th of the cost of a cellular modem—all made possible by consumers who buy and deploy Helium Hotspot gateways in exchange for cryptocurrency.

Lantronix

PRESIDENT, CEO: PAUL PICKLE Irvine, Calif.-based Lantronix is equipping businesses with a variety of IoT gateways, building blocks and software—a growing portfolio of products that includes new additions like the Mobile Hardware Development Kit and the dual-band WiFi and Bluetooth xPico 270 embedded IoT gateway.

Senet

PRESIDENT, CEO: BRUCE CHATTERLEY Portsmouth, N.H.-based Senet is forging partnerships on multiple fronts for its cloud-based connectivity software and low-power, wide-area network services, which includes a new alliance with smart city provider MeterSYS for enabling advanced metering infrastructure across the U.S.

Sigfox

CO-FOUNDER, CEO: LUDOVIC LE MOAN Paris-based SigFox is expanding services and coverage for its 0G low-power, wide-area network through a partnership with nano satellite provider Eutelstat for expanded global coverage and through the launch of a new service that allows businesses to build out their own private area networks.

Sprint

PRESIDENT, CEO: MICHEL COMBES Overland Park, Kan.-based Sprint is a making a big bet on IoT with its Curiosity suite of offerings and services, which includes the low-latency Curiosity Core network with support for multiple protocols, and the redesigned Sprint IoT Factory solution for small and midsize businesses.

Verizon

CHAIRMAN, CEO: HANS VESTBERG Basking Ridge, N.J.-based Verizon is doubling down on IoT connectivity with its ThingSpace platform, which pairs with the company’s Narrowband IoT network to help companies connect and manage their IoT solutions while offering them a variety of prebuilt applications like asset management.

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I NTE R N ET OF TH I NG S 50 10 Coolest IoT HARDWARE COMPANIES

CoreKinect

CO-FOUNDER, CEO: ASSAR BADRI Tempe, Ariz.-based CoreKinect is forging partnerships with heavy hitters in the IT channel ecosystem for its custom-built IoT sensors, which include a U.S. distribution deal with Ingram Micro and a co-development partnership with The Kudelski Group for a miniature secure asset tracking solution.

Dell Technologies

CHAIRMAN, CEO: MICHAEL DELL

Innovations in hardware are enabling a variety of new use cases and capabilities in IoT, whether it’s improved artificial intelligence performance in powerconstrained devices or routers that are prepared for the shift to 5G. These hardware offerings come in at the silicon level from chipmakers and go all the way to complete systems from OEMs. Some of these vendors are enabling more compute inside tiny devices that couldn’t have been imagined a few years ago while others are bringing major performance improvements to edge gateways where all sorts of calculations and analyses are offloaded.

What follows are the 10 coolest IoT hardware companies of 2020.

Advantech

CHAIRMAN: KC LIU Taipei, Taiwan-based Advantech is making artificial intelligence at the edge a reality with new offerings such as the MIC-710IVA, MIC-720AI and MIC-730AI edge computers, which are enabling high-performance inference and video recording applications in small devices, thanks to Nvidia’s Jetson Nano chips.

Arm

CEO: SIMON SEGARS Cambridge, U.K.-based Arm is ramping up edge intelligence and IoT management capabilities with new products like the Cortex-M55 and Ethos-U55 chips, which promise massive machine-learning performance gains for IoT devices, and updated IoT platforms like Pelion Connectivity Management 2.0.

Cisco Systems

CHAIRMAN, CEO: CHUCK ROBBINS San Jose, Calif.-based Cisco Systems is expanding its IoT security and networking capabilities with new products like Cyber Vision, a software-based security solution for discovering industrial assets, and new switches and routers like the IR1101, which Cisco says is the “industry’s first 5Gready industrial router.”

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Round Rock, Texas-based Dell Technologies is helping businesses lay the groundwork for IoT with a variety of edge computing products such as the Dell EMC Streaming Data Platform for big data ingestion and analytics and the Dell EMC Modular Data Center Micro 415 for ruggedized environments.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise PRESIDENT, CEO: ANTONIO NERI

San Jose, Calif.-based Hewlett Packard Enterprise continues to build out its edge infrastructure capabilities, most recently with the launch of HPE Edgeline IoT Quick Connect, which aims to simplify the real-time monitoring and control of operational technology equipment with hardware and software.

Intel

CEO: BOB SWAN Santa Clara, Calif.-based Intel is expanding its IoT capabilities through new hardware and software offerings, which include the new Movidius Myriad visual processing unit for power-efficient performance and the OpenVINO toolkit for optimizing artificial intelligence frameworks.

Lenovo

CHAIRMAN, CEO: YANG YUANQING Beijing-based Lenovo is making a big bet on IoT with a variety of systems and products, ranging from its IoT Solution Bundles that combine hardware, software and services, to new systems like the ThinkSystem SE350 server that is purpose-built for the edge.

Nvidia

PRESIDENT, CEO: JENSEN HUANG Santa Clara, Calif.-based Nvidia is extending its GPU computing prowess to IoT with new edge platforms like the EGX edge supercomputing platform and new chips like the Jetson Xavier NX, a credit-card-size computing board that provides “server-class performance” in power-constrained devices.

Samsara

FOUNDER, CEO: SANJIT BISWAS San Francisco-based Samsara is turning heads with its hardware and software suite of IoT offerings for fleet monitoring and industrial applications—a business that has propelled the startup to amass more than 10,000 clients, $530 million in capital raised from investors and a $6.3 billion private valuation.

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10 Coolest Industrial IoT COMPANIES

Litmus Automation

FOUNDER, CEO: VATSAL SHAH San Jose, Calif.-based Litmus Automation is riding the momentum of its edge computing platform, LoopEdge, which helps companies fetch data from a variety of disparate industrial assets and then normalizes the data for running analytics, event processing and machine learning to improve operations.

KMC Controls

CEO: RICHARD NEWBERRY

In the world of industrial IoT, the stakes are high.

Manufacturers, among other sorts of industrial companies, are seeking to improve operations while finding new revenue streams, which is why the idea of connecting industrial assets to gain new insight is so attractive. This imperative has led a variety of established companies and new entrants to cook up their own platforms, hardware offerings and services, so that, for instance, building operations can use machine learning to save on energy costs. What is clear is that there’s still a lot of room to innovate and grow for these vendors.

What follows are the 10 coolest industrial IoT companies of 2020.

GE Digital

CEO: PAT BYRNE San Ramon, Calif.-based GE Digital is sharpening its focus on the utility, power generation, oil and gas, and manufacturing sectors with its growing suite of IoT applications, which includes the new Predix Essentials for jump-starting connected operations and Asset Answers for benchmarking performance.

Hitachi Vantara

CHAIRMAN, CEO: TOSHIAKI TOKUNAGA

New Paris, Ind.-based KMC Controls is taking the guesswork out of industrial IoT with its KMC Commander IoT platform, which allows organizations to monitor, analyze and set triggers for data from a variety of sensors, devices, controllers and building systems in a cloud-based interface.

PTC

PRESIDENT, CEO: JIM HEPPELMANN Bolstered by alliances with Rockwell Automation and Microsoft, Boston-based PTC continues to outpace the market with the business growth of its industrial IoT offerings, which allow enterprises to easily connect assets, build applications and analyze data on its ThingWorx platform.

Schneider Electric

CHAIRMAN, CEO: JEAN-PASCAL TRICOIRE Rueil-Malmaison, France-based Schneider Electric is ramping up its IoT investments on multiple fronts, from the software side with updates to offerings like EcoStruxure Power SCADA Operation, to the ecosystem side with Schneider Electric Exchange, enabling businesses to create and scale IoT solutions.

Seeq

FOUNDER, CEO: STEVE SLIWA With the backing of major investors in oil and gas like Saudi Aramco, Seattle-based Seeq is expanding the capabilities of its advanced IoT analytics software, which gives industrial companies the ability to diagnose problems, monitor systems and predict when systems will fail using existing data streams.

Siemens

Santa Clara, Calif.-based Hitachi Vantara is doubling down on its Lumada suite of IoT offerings through its merger with Hitachi Consulting—a move that will, among other things, integrate the company’s manufacturing consulting capabilities with data-driven offerings such as Lumada Manufacturing Insights.

PRESIDENT, CEO: JOE KAESER

Honeywell

Software AG

CHAIRMAN, CEO: DARIUS ADAMCZYK Charlotte, N.C.-based Honeywell is betting big on industrial IoT software with its new Honeywell Forge suite of applications, which includes Forge Energy Optimization, a cloudbased offering that uses machine learning to adjust a building’s energy consumption based on usage within a closed loop.

Munich, Germany-based Siemens is expanding its industrial IoT capabilities through, among other things, the integration of Mendix’s low-code development platform with the MindSphere platform and the acquisition of the container-based edge computing platform from Silicon Valley startup Pixeom.

CEO: SANJAY BRAHMAWAR Thanks to its 2017 acquisition of IoT platform provider Cumulocity, Darmstadt, Germany-based Software AG is becoming a substantial player in the industrial IoT space, with features ranging from a no-code development interface to support for hundreds of preintegrated devices and protocols.

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I NTE R N ET OF TH I NG S 50 10 Coolest IoT SECURITY COMPANIES

Claroty

CEO: THORSTEN FREITAG New York-based Claroty is looking to close the security gap between IT and operational technology with its integrated suite of cybersecurity products, which includes capabilities for continuous vulnerability detection and threat monitoring as well as network segmentation and secure remote access.

Forescout Technologies

PRESIDENT, CEO: MICHAEL DECESARE

As more connected devices enter the workplace and as more industrial assets get connected, the need for hardened IoT security solutions becomes increasingly important. While connected devices and assets can open up new lines of business and improve operations, they can be attacked by hackers and taken over. And that creates two different kinds of risk: giving up control of the device itself and giving hackers a way to move laterally within networks. To tackle these issues, vendors are creating a variety of offerings, from network visibility and segmentation to dynamic policy enforcement.

What follows are the 10 coolest IoT security companies of 2020.

Armis

CO-FOUNDER, CEO: YEVGENY DIBROV After getting acquired by Insight Partners for $1.1 billion in January, Palo Alto, Calif.-based Armis is moving into a bold new chapter for its agentless IoT security platform, which lets enterprises gain visibility and control of the unmanaged connected devices entering the workplace.

Axonius

CO-FOUNDER, CEO: DEAN SYSMAN New York-based Axonius is helping businesses get a handle on the IoT devices in their workplaces with the startup’s cybersecurity asset management platform, which can identify, manage and enforce security policies for a wide variety of IoT and traditional devices as well as cloud computing instances.

Check Point Software Technologies CO-FOUNDER, CEO: GIL SHWED

San Carlos, Calif.-based Check Point Software Technologies is making a major investment in IoT security capabilities with last year’s acquisition of early stage security vendor Cymplify, which gave the company new control, threat prevention and runtime workload capabilities for preventing attacks on IoT devices.

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San Jose, Calif.-based Forescout Technologies is making significant additions to its IoT security capabilities, ranging from the new Asset Risk Framework for identifying high-risk assets within industrial control systems to the new eyeSegment solution for accelerating network segmentation projects.

Ockam

FOUNDER, CEO: MATTHEW GREGORY San Francisco-based Ockam is using blockchain technology and cryptography to make IoT hardware and software more secure, giving its offerings the ability to assign “cryptographically probable, decentralized identifiers” to each device while using a blockchain-based registry for discovering public keys.

Palo Alto Networks

CHAIRMAN, CEO: NIKESH ARORA Santa Clara, Calif.-based Palo Alto Networks is strengthening its IoT security capabilities with last year’s acquisition of Zingbox, which is giving the company the ability to provide protection against IoT-related vulnerabilities as an integrated service throughout the firewall.

ReFirm Labs

CEO: DERICK NAEF Fulton, Md.-based ReFirm Labs is arming companies with the ability to analyze firmware in IoT devices for out-of-device software components and vulnerabilities, thanks to its Centrifuge IoT security platform, which comes with features such as continuous monitoring and prioritized alerts.

Sectigo

PRESIDENT, CEO: BILL HOLTZ Roseland, N.J.-based Sectigo is hardening IoT security through certificates and public keys with its IoT Identity Platform, which received a substantial update last year through the company’s acquisition of Icon Labs, giving the platform a way to update, manage, renew and revoke certificates for devices.

Sepio Systems

CEO: YOSSI APPLEBOUM Whether it’s for IT, IoT or operational technology, Rockville, Md.-based Sepio Systems is giving businesses the ability to identify all devices on the network, set granular policies at the device or user level, receive detailed briefings on vulnerabilities and stop attacks before they happen.

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I NTE R N ET OF TH I NG S 50 10 Coolest IoT SOFTWARE COMPANIES

IBM

CEO: ARVIND KRISHNA Armonk, N.Y.-based IBM is adding major new features across multiple products and services in the IoT space, such as Maximo Asset Monitor, a new artificial intelligence-powered offering for monitoring industrial assets, and TRIRIGA, a workplace management system updated with new AI capabilities.

IOTech

CEO: KEITH STEELE

When it comes to IoT, innovation in software is paramount. Without that, businesses wouldn’t be able to build applications more quickly, create new lines of business or generate the insight they need to improve the way work is done. There’s a lot of room to deliver value in the IoT software space, whether it’s introducing no-code development platforms, improving the way devices communicate with each other or creating a standardized environment for edge computing infrastructure. And the offerings are coming from a variety of vendors, from large cloud service providers to startups.

What follows are the 10 coolest IoT software companies.

Akamai

CEO: TOM LEIGHTON Cambridge, Mass.-based Akamai is taking its massive network of 240,000 edge servers across the globe to stand up new IoT services like IoT Edge Connect, which aims to help companies scale IoT deployments by improving the way messages are securely exchanged between devices.

Amazon Web Services CEO: ANDY JASSY

As the world’s biggest cloud service provider, Seattle-based Amazon Web Services is continuing to build out a wide range of capabilities for its suite of IoT offerings and services, which include recent updates like container support for AWS IoT Greengrass and the launch of AWS IoT Events.

Google Cloud

CEO: THOMAS KURIAN With Cloud IoT Core, Mountain View, Calif.-based Google Cloud is giving customers the software necessary to connect devices and analyze data, whether at the edge or in the cloud, with use cases ranging from predictive maintenance and realtime asset tracking to smart cities and buildings.

With support from Dell Technologies, Newcastle upon Tyne, U.K.based IOTech is taking an open approach to IoT with Edge Xpert, a commercialized version of The Linux Foundation’s EdgeX Foundry that aims to simplify and standardize edge computing architectures that support a variety of protocols and integrations.

Microsoft

CEO: SATYA NADELLA Redmond, Wash.-based Microsoft is continuously expanding its IoT capabilities for Azure with substantial updates, whether it’s new industry app templates for Azure IoT Central or the launch of Azure Sphere, a new platform for improving security in power-constrained devices.

SAP

CO-CEOs: CHRISTIAN KLEIN, JENNIFER MORGAN Building off momentum from last year’s launch of the SAP Leonardo IoT platform, the Walldorf, Germany-based company is making more big moves in the space, which includes a new interoperability partnership with Amazon Web Services and a codevelopment partnership with Verizon for IoT analytics offerings.

Sight Machine

CO-FOUNDER, CEO: JON SOBEL San Francisco-based Sight Machine is taking an industry-specific approach with its digital manufacturing platform, which now comes with solutions for paper and tissue, packaging and chemicals manufacturing, giving them the ability to build a digital twin of their entire manufacturing process.

Wind River

CEO: KEVIN DALLAS After moving out from Intel’s ownership in 2018, Alameda, Calif.-based Wind River is making major improvements to its industrial IoT portfolio, which includes the launch of the Wind River Helix Virtualization Platform and updates to its Linux and Kubernetes capabilities for the edge.

Zededa

FOUNDER, CEO: SAID OUISSAL Santa Clara, Calif.-based Zededa wants to make IoT more open and interoperable through its Edge Virtualization X engine, which is based on the open-source Project EVE that allows organizations to run legacy applications in virtual machines while spinning new apps into containers.

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CR N STORAG E 100

The Heartbeat Of Business The Storage 100 highlights the best, brightest, and most innovative providers of storage technology for solution providers

By Joseph F. Kovar

D

ata has never been more important to businesses large or small. They collect ever more data about their operations and their customers, protect it, manage it and, most importantly, mine it for information as a way to improve efficiencies and find better ways to serve clients’ needs.

As businesses increasingly apply big data, business analytics, data mining and other tools for turning data into information, they count on storage vendors and their solution providers to make sure that data is available. In fact, solution providers say that they are helping customers capture startling data insight that was unimaginable years ago by making sure they have all the right storage technology—from hardware components to the data protection software to artificial intelligence-based software-defined offerings and data management offerings that cut through the clutter.

To do that, storage systems need three things, said John Woodall, vice president of engineering at Integrated Archive Systems, a Palo Alto, Calif.-based solution provider.

The first is security, including encryption of data at rest, which is pretty common, Woodall said. However, he said, customers are increasingly asking for higher requirements like FIPS 140-2 Level 2 compliance.

The second is storage efficiency, which comes from such storage-based data reduction capabilities as deduplication and compression, which is important for decreasing storage costs

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even as the amount of data created grows, Woodall said.

The third is visibility where arrays report data on storage metrics that can be monitored over time for AI-driven predictive analytics, he said.

“The best storage requires all three: security, efficiency and visibility,” he said. “A lot of systems have them in varying levels. A complete solution may require multiple vendors.

And there’s nothing wrong with this. It might be best in some scenarios.”

Mark Gonzalez, regional vice president of sales at ePlus, a Herndon, Va.-based solution provider, said the company behind the storage is as important as the technology.

Gonzalez told CRN there are two types of storage vendors: partner-tolerant and partner-centric. “The ones that are extremely successful are partner-centric,” he said. “They have programs that are compelling.”

With that in mind, CRN has pulled together the Storage 100: the best, brightest, and most innovative providers of storage technology for solution providers. On the following pages CRN is highlighting 20 data management vendors, which ensure that the right data is available as needed; 20 data protection vendors, which ensure data is backed up, archived and accessible; 40 software-defined storage vendors, which bring software capabilities, services and cloud connectivity; and 20 storage component vendors, which give software and data a hardware base on which to operate. ■

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DATA MANAGEMENT VENDORS

Before data can be turned into information, it needs to be managed across on-premises and public, private and hybrid clouds.

These companies are focused on ways to manage copies, data life cycles, adherence to governance and regulatory concerns, and more to ensure the right data is available as needed.

Actifio

AgileStorage

Aparavi

Cohesity

Commvault

Founder, CEO

CEO

Founder, CEO

Founder, CEO

Director, President, CEO

Ash Ashutosh

Christof Zihlmann

Adrian Knapp

Mohit Aron

Sanjay Mirchandani

Actifio’s multi-cloud copy data management software platform provides life-cycle management of virtual copies of data in their native format, with full application awareness and global data mobility. The platform’s APIs allow it to seamlessly integrate with third-party IT service management tools, DevOps tools, or custom-built scripts and applications.

AgileStorage is the developer of a storage hypervisor platform, based on a storage operating system designed by the former metro-cluster development team members at NetApp. It features a flexible, containerized storage engine for agility, and delivers real virtualization of storage and seamless integration into an IT infrastructure.

With Active Archive, unstructured data management specialist Aparavi provides direct-to-cloud data transfer as well as enhanced data classification, tagging and search. Multi-cloud management capabilities include bulk data migration across clouds to help smooth the journey toward multi-cloud deployments.

Cohesity is a channelfocused provider of a single webscale data management platform to help businesses manage the vast majority of their data from backups, file shares, object stores, and test/dev and analytics.

The company in February expanded its platform to remote office/branch office (ROBO) environments.

When Commvault’s new CEO, Sanjay Mirchandani, last year took over the company, he transformed it from mainstream data protection into a nimble, channel-focused developer of data management and cloud-based technology, and led the company’s first acquisition, Hedvig, to bring softwaredefined data management front and center.

Datadobi

Data Dynamics

Datera

Egnyte

Igneous

Co-Founder, CEO

CEO

CEO

CEO

CEO

Ian Leysen

Piyush Mehta

Guy Churchward

Vineet Jain

Kiran Bhageshpur

Datadobi’s enterpriseclass software helps busin e s s e s transition to new storage technology quickly and safely and to protect their unstructured data on any NAS or any cloud. The company’s software targets the migration of NAS data, while DobiReplicate and DobiSync protect unstructured data wherever it lives.

Data Dynamics is the developer of StorageX, an application that applies analytics to help businesses uncover hidden data assets, unlocks and migrates data from any vendor or technology to any other, replicates and archives data, and controls, manages and collapses file resources to improve file system utilization and management.

Datera builds a softwarebased data services platform for powering high-performance application environments at global scale with full data orchestration and automation. It runs on standard x86 servers with a heterogeneous mix of persistent memory and flash and disk media to enable a wide spectrum of price/performance for any application.

E g n y t e provides a simple, secure v e n d o r neutral SaaS platform for managing enterprise content and collaboration across business applications and storage repositories. It enables a cohesive approach with enterprise-grade security to content governance, privacy, compliance and workflow automation through a turnkey, cloud-based offering.

Igneous provides SaaS-based data discovery and protection for file and object data across any NAS and cloud environment and for any workflow.

Its DataDiscover offering provides data visibility into billions of files across multiple locations, and DataProtect backs up and archives that data at petabyte scale.

Komprise

LucidLink

MayaData

Morro Data

Nasuni

CEO

Co-Founder, CEO

Chairman, CEO

Founder, CEO

President, CEO

Kumar Goswami A developer of intelligent data management technology, Komprise helps businesses handle the incoming tsunami of data with intelligent automation software and analytics-driven data management that help customers move and control their data to save costs and extract more business value from that data.

Peter Thompson

Cloud-native file services t e ch n o l o g y developer LucidLink helps businesses overcome latency challenges in accessing files over distances with a file streaming service that allows cloud storage to be used as if it is local storage. LucidLink Filespaces breaks large files into small objects for efficient delivery and streaming.

Evan Powell

MayaData develops containerattached storage for Kubernetes. The MayaData OpenEBS enterprise platform ties together the leading open-source container-attached storage, OpenE B S, with OpenEBS Director, Litmus Chaos Engineering and Proactive Support.

Paul Tien

Morro Data offers a hybrid cloud architecture w i t h c a ch ing gateway and a global file system. Its CloudNAS platform modernizes enterprise storage to sync, lock and protect office documents and design files with a cloud-first approach while continuing to present a fast, secure and familiar NAS interface to users.

Paul Flanagan

Nasuni UniFS cloud file services technology moves the data structures of a file system from hardware to the cloud for a cloud-native global file system. UniFS scales globally while offering access from any location and support for any performance level, all with single-paneof-glass management.

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CR N STORAG E 100 Portworx

Quest Software

Quobyte

Veeam

Veritas

Co-Founder, CEO

CEO

Co-Founder, CEO

Chairman, CEO

CEO

Murli Thirumale

Michael Kohlsdorf

Portworx develops t e ch n o l o g y for running stateful containers in production. It lets users manage any database or stateful service on any infrastructure using any container scheduler, all while providing persistence, high availability, data automation, security and support for multiple data stores and infrastructures.

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Quest helps manage and protect data, stay compliant, and govern identities across the enterprise. Its Metalogix line provides content migration, management and data governance for Office 365, OneDrive for Business and SharePoint, while Recovery Manager provides disaster recovery for Active Directory, Office 365 and Exchange.

BjĂśrn Kolbeck

Quobyte builds a distributed file system that turns servers into a massively scalable software storage system. The product eliminates data silos by utilizing commodity hard drives, solid state drives and NVM (non-volatile memory), providing unified, multi-interface access with common authentication and access control lists.

William Largent V e e a m develops an integrated platform for protecting and managing data in on-premises and cloud environments. The Veeam Availability Suite automates the processes associated with data protection, recovery, monitoring, ransomware protection and compliance, and scales for cloud, virtual and physical workloads.

Greg Hughes Veritas provides backup and recovery, business c o n t i n u i t y, software-defined storage and information governance across nearly any customer on-premises and cloud environment.

Veritas in 2019 acquired Aptare, which brought its industry-leading predictive analytics software for multivendor backup, storage and virtual infrastructures.

DATA PROTECTION VENDORS

Protecting massive and growing amounts of data from a host of potential issues is where data protection vendors come in.

These companies help ensure data is backed up and archived, and is accessible should it need to be recovered.

Acronis

Amazon Web Services

Arcserve

Asigra

Axcient

Chairman, CEO

CEO

CEO

Founder, CEO

CEO

Serguei Beloussov

Tom Signorello

David Farajun

David Bennett

Acronis provides cyber protection in physical, cloud and mobile environments to over 500,000 businesses via a wide range of data protection, anti-ransomware, disaster recovery, cloud storage, and enterprise file sync and share offerings.

Its technology includes AI-based active protection technology and blockchainbased data authentication.

AWS offers virtually unlimited storage capacity for a wide range of storage services, including object, file, and block storage services; cloud data migration options; backup and restore; archiving; and more. Its Amazon Simple Storage Service, or Amazon S3, is the standard back end to many cloud storage offerings.

Arcserve was an early developer of data backup technologies, and now provides channel partners with a full range of data protection capabilities including software for protecting, migrating and archiving data as well as several purpose-built appliances providing onpremises, cloud and hybrid data protection.

A s i g r a provides enterprise data protection along with business continuity, ransomware protection, compliance management, and cloud SaaS. Its Asigra Cloud Backup platform includes an intuitive management console, instant data recovery, an agentless cloud backup architecture, autonomic healing, and continuous data protection.

Axcient provides data protection, cloud-tocloud backup, and file sync and share technologies. Its X360 platform combines its CloudFinder Office 365 data protection technology, its Anchor file sync and share technology, and its Replibit business continuity and disaster recovery software.

Backblaze

Carbonite, an

Clumio

Cobalt Iron

Datrium

CEO

Mark Barranechea

Co-Founder, CEO

Founder, CEO

CEO

Backblaze focuses on cloud-based data protection, with business-focused and personal data protection available on a yearly subscription with unlimited data and bandwidth. The company also offers technology to let developers and IT professionals build their own cloud storage offerings.

Carbonite, w h i ch l a t e last year was acquired by information management company OpenText, is a pioneer in the development of cloud-based subscription data protection, disaster recovery and endpoint security to SMBs, including all-in-one offerings with hardware, software and cloud services.

Gleb Budman

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Andy Jassy

OpenText company

OpenText Vice Chairman, CEO, CTO

Poojan Kumar

Clumio last year entered the SaaSbased data protection market with two funding rounds totaling $186 million. It provides secure enterprise Backup as a Service aimed at consolidating data protection across data centers and public clouds, with automatic expansion and contraction of resources.

Richard Spurlock Cobalt Iron provides SaaS-based enterprise data protection with a 100 percent channel focus. Its Compass platform uses analytics, SaaS, multi-cloud and virtualization to provide full backup, archive and recovery offerings across on-premises, private cloud, public cloud and hybrid infrastructures.

Tim Page

D a t r i u m offers Disaster Recovery as a Service combined with VMware Cloud on AWS to protect all VMware workloads with cloud backup, disaster recovery orchestration, and on-demand disaster recovery sites. Its Datrium DVX is a disaggregated hyperconverged infrastructure system combining primary, backup and disaster recovery storage.

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Datto

Druva

CEO

Founder, CEO

Thomas Kurian CEO

Datto has grown into a business continuity and data recovery powerhouse with its new Datto Unified Continuity platform, which gives MSPs the tools to protect critical business data on servers, personal devices and in the cloud with such capabilities as ransomware protection and fast recovery.

Th e D r u v a Cloud Platform is built on AWS and offered as a service to provide data protection and management. It allows accessible, infinitely scalable and completely autonomous enterprise data resiliency, and provides capacity planning and software management while helping businesses eliminate unnecessary hardware.

G o o g l e Cloud Storage provides worldwide, highly durable object storage that scales to exabytes of data.

It allows instant access to data from any storage class depending on access and cost criteria, integrates storage into customer applications with a single unified API, and helps businesses optimize price and performance.

MSP360

Rubrik

StorageCraft

CEO

Co-Founder, CEO

Tim Weller

Jaspreet Singh

Brian Helwig

Bipul Sinha

MSP360 provides cloud-based backup and file management services to SMBs. Its offerings include backup management capabilities and military-grade encryption using customercontrolled keys. Customers can store their backup data with Amazon S3, Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud, Wasabi and others.

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Rubrik’s platform drives a consistent management experience across all environments with a single policy-based offering for on-premises, the edge and in the cloud.

The Rubrik platform promises applications and data are instantly accessible in an immutable format for recovery after a ransomware attack.

Google Cloud

HYCU

Microsoft

CEO

CEO

Simon Taylor

Satya Nadella

HYCU Protege, which s t a r t e d shipping in D e c e m b e r, provides enterprises with intelligent, applicationaware data assurance, migration, single-click disaster recovery, and cross-cloud management across AWS, Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud, VMware and Nutanix environments.

Microsoft Azure provides secure cloud storage that protects business’ data infrastructures while they build apps and provide other cloud services. It allows integration of on-premises data with cloud data and provides global scalability while meeting compliance and privacy requirements.

Unitrends, a Kaseya

Wasabi

Chairman, CEO

Fred Voccola

Co-Founder, President, CEO

StorageC r a f t ’ s ShadowXafe platform provides scalable data protection and recovery to protect data in physical or virtual systems, with the ability to boot backup images as virtual machines in milliseconds. Its OneXafe platform integrates data protection with scale-out storage.

Unitrends develops appliancebased and cloud-based data protection technology. Unitrends Helix is an intelligent SaaS remediation platform that, when paired with Unitrends backup appliances, automatically fixes backup and recovery issues and then sends related updates.

Matt Medeiros

company

CEO, Kaseya

David Friend

Wasabi promises to provide cloud storage with significantly higher performance and lower cost than that provided

by AWS, and in February introduced its Reserved Capacity Storage pricing model that allows customers to purchase a reserved amount of cloud storage for a fixed price for periods of up to five years.

SOFTWARE-DEFINED STORAGE VENDORS

Software is now the heart of the storage world. Software capabilities, services, and cloud connectivity are all part of the storage operating system, which is where significant product differentiation happens.

Caringo

Cloudian

DataCore

DataDirect Networks

Dell Technologies

President, CEO

Co-Founder, CEO

CEO

Co-Founder, Chairman, CEO

Chairman, CEO

Tony Barbagallo

Caringo develops object storage software that lets businesses control any volume, flow or size of unstructured information as a way to help cut unstructured data complexity and cost while improving its performance and extracting value from the data.

Caringo’s symmetric architecture provides massive scalability, elastic content protection and automated management.

Michael Tso

Cloudian develops AWS S3-comp a t i b l e cloud-based, enterprise-class object storage technology with SMB and NFS support. Its HyperStore nodes can be deployed where needed to add capacity, and then can be scaled seamlessly.

The company focuses on simplicity with a global data fabric that is managed within a single framework.

Dave Zabrowski DataCore was one of the pioneers in softwared e f i n e d storage for block, file and object storage, with software that can be deployed on new or existing servers and storage to pool and virtualize multivendor storage, create purpose-built storage servers, or as part of a hyperconverged cluster of servers.

Alex Bouzari

DataDirect Networks offers highperformance enterpriseclass block and data storage systems along with AI-focused storage and its WOS object storage platform. The company has made four key acquisitions including that of Nexenta, an early software-defined storage developer.

Michael Dell

Dell is known primarily as a server and storage hardware vendor, with an emphasis on storage software development for its hardware.

It also has a wide range of stand-alone storage software for data protection, as well as software-only versions of some of its hardware offerings.

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CR N STORAG E 100 Fujitsu

Hitachi Vantara

HiveIO

IBM

Antonio Neri

Chairman, CEO

Founder, CEO

CEO

Fujitsu is the developer of the Eternus line of primary storage arrays and Celvin NAS appliances. The company’s Eternus CD10000 reference architecture includes a hyperscale softwaredefined storage platform that takes advantage of several open-source Ceph and OpenStack interfaces.

HPE is one of the top storage vendors in terms of sales, with a full range of all-flash and hybrid-flash storage, file and object storage, storage networking, data protection and data management software, and hyperconverged infrastructure offerings. The company last year moved to unify its diverse storage with its new HPE Primera platform.

Hitachi Vantara brings together the hardware and software elements of three companies—storage vendor Hitachi Data Systems, big data and IoT technology company Lumada, and data management and analytics company Pentaho—into a single unified approach to modernizing corporate infrastructures.

HiveIO is the developer of Hive Fabric, a hardwareagnostic virtual desktop infrastructure offering that combines virtual desktops, virtual servers and software-defined storage in a single platform. The storage side combines local disk, RAM storage, external storage and hyperconverged storage.

IBM has shifted its development to the software side, resulting in recent growth across a number of markets. IBM is now accelerating its business through the strength of its IBM Spectrum line of software-defined storage. Its new CEO, Arvind Krishna, took the reins April 6.

Infinidat

Kaminario

Lenovo

Lightbits Labs

Liqid

Founder, CEO

Founder, CEO

Chairman, CEO

Co-Founder, Chairman

Co-Founder, CEO

Takahito Tokita

President, Chief Digital Transformation Officer

Moshe Yanai

Toshiaki Tokunaga

Ofer Bezalel

Arvind Krishna

President, CEO

Dani Golan

Yang Yuanqing

Avigdor Willenz

Sumit Puri

Infinidat develops s t o r a g e t e ch n o l o g y targeting customers looking for multi-petabyte scale with high availability and reliability. Its offerings include the InfiniBox petabyte-scale enterprise storage system, the InfiniGuard petabytescale data protection system, the InfiniSync synchronous mirroring software, and the Neutrx Cloud for Storage as a Service.

Kaminario started life as an allflash storage array developer, but then ditched the hardware to focus on software-defined storage. That resulted in its Data Plane Virtualization platform that lets businesses move mission-critical data between public and private clouds as needed without having to rearchitect or refactor the application stack.

Lenovo offers a range of storage systems under its ThinkSystem brand, including all-flash and hybrid-flash arrays. It also partners with developers of key softwaredefined storage technology including Nutanix, Microsoft Azure Stack, and VMware vSAN to develop other storage and hyperconverged infrastructure offerings with its hardware.

Lightbits Labs develops NVMe-overTCPsoftware-defined disaggregated storage that turns commodity servers into high-performance storage systems with hardware-accelerated options without requiring changes to the network or the application clients. The company counts Cisco, Dell Technologies and Micron among its investors.

Liqid’s composable infrastructure platform leverages industry-standard compute, networking, storage, GPU, FPGA, and Intel Optane memory devices to deliver a scalable architecture built from pools of disaggregated resources. Those components are interconnected over intelligent fabrics to the exact physical resources required.

MinIO

NetApp

Nutanix

OpenIO

Oracle

Co-Founder, Chairman, CEO

Co-Founder, CEO

CEO

Anand Babu Periasamy Co-Founder, CEO

M i n I O develops a high-performance softwaredefined distributed object storage system that runs on industry-standard hardware and is open-sourced under the Apache V2 license. The technology makes data available on-premises or in any public cloud, and makes any existing storage infrastructure compatible with Amazon S3.

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Hewlett Packard Enterprise

George Kurian President, CEO N e t A p p develops all-flash and hybrid-flash storage but is a pioneer in connecting on-premises storage infrastructure to public and hybrid clouds via its Data Fabric platform. The company is also a pioneer in making its storage software available to run in the cloud.

Dheeraj Pandey

Nut anix made hyperconverged infrastructure the wellknown technology it is today, as it was early with an integrated compute, storage and networking stack. The company’s products are available as turnkey appliances or as software integrated with third-party servers from a variety of server vendors.

Laurent Denel

O p e n I O develops softwared e f i n e d o b j e c t storage aimed at hyperscalable, on-premises infrastructures. It uses a grid of nodes with its ConsciousGrid technology to provide hardware-agnostic support within the same cluster, with unlimited scaling and consistent performance for big data, high-performance computing and AI.

Safra Catz Oracle offers what it terms “engineered” storage designed to help Oracle applications and databases run faster. Its portfolio features automated storage management to simplify operations, and protect and recover mission-critical Oracle databases with zero data-loss capabilities.

The company also offers cloud storage as part of its Oracle Cloud.

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Panasas

Faye Pairman

President, CEO

Panzura

Patrick Harr CEO

Pavilion Data Systems

Pivot3

Pure Storage

CEO

President, CEO

Chairman, CEO

Gurpeet Singh

Bill Stover

Charles Giancarlo

Panas as is the developer of the PanFS parallel file system, which it delivers via its ActiveStor Ultra turnkey appliances. PanFS provides the performance and the enterprise-grade reliability and manageability to help businesses process large and complex datasets related to mixed workload high-performance computing environments.

The Panzura Freedom cloud file system was built from the ground up to power enterprise-scale deployments in the cloud and securely allow collaborative global teams to work with large file sizes. Data is stored as a single source of truth in the cloud and syncs to local caching appliances.

Pavilion Data Systems develops NVMe over Fabric technology purpose-built to utilize current and future memory-class media and NVMe SSDs. The Pavilion Data platform features highperformance and fast RAID rebuilds, and includes data management capabilities such as thin provisioning, snapshots, and data at rest encryption.

Pivot3 is the developer of the Acuity hyperconverged infrastructure platform that scales as needed across on-premises, edge and cloud infrastructures with management from a single pane of glass. It includes policy-based, priority-aware management; erasure coding for data protection; and high-performance NVMe PCIe flash storage.

Pure Storage develops allflash storage t e ch n o l o g y, including the FlashArray block storage line and the FlashBlade unstructured storage line, all based on its Pure1 storage operating system. The company is also known for its Evergreen Storage offering that ensures arrays are regularly and automatically upgraded to the latest technology.

QNAP Systems

Quantum

Qumulo

Scale Computing

Scality

VP

Chairman, CEO

President, CEO

Co-Founder, CEO

Co-Founder, CEO

YT Lee

Jamie Lerner

Bill Richter

Jeff Ready

Jerome Lecat

Q N A P Systems develops a comprehensive range of NAS appliances and video surveillance for home, small business and enterprise users with a wide range of storage, backup, snapshot, virtualization, multimedia and other capabilities. It also offers QuTScloud, a cloud-optimized version of the QNAP NAS operating system.

Quantum originally made its mark as a leading provider of tape automation and data protection appliances, but over the last few years moved heavily into providing storage technology targeting verticals such as media and entertainment, surveillance, and industrial IoT, as well as smart storage for research and analytics.

Q u m u l o develops enterpriseproven hybrid cloud file storage and file services that provide real-time visibility and control of data across on-premises and the cloud. Its cloud-native file system provides the same experience and capabilities across on-premises, hybrid, cloud and multicloud environments.

Scale Computing’s HC3 IT infrastructure platform combines servers, storage and virtualization into a single offering. The company’s HC3 software can replace traditional IT silos of virtualization software, disaster recovery software, servers, and shared storage with a fully integrated, highly available platform for running applications.

Scality offers two product lines for helping store and manage data. Scality Ring is a software-defined native file and object storage solution for large-scale on-premises storage and management of unstructured data.

Zenko is software that provides hybrid cloud and multi-cloud data management and orchestration.

Stellus Technologies

StorCentric

StorOne

SwiftStack

Synology

Co-Founder, CEO

CEO

Chairman, CEO

Jeff Treuhaft

President, CEO

The Stellus Data Platform offers a modern, NAS platform based on the company’s key-value over fabrics technology that provides high performance, especially for unstructured data. The platform helps cut the need for file and block conversions, global data mapping, and global cache management.

Mihir Shah Co-Founder, CEO StorCentric combines the resources of companies it acquired: Vexata’s all-flash storage; Nexsan’s Unity high-performance block and file storage, E-series and Beast high-density block storage; Assureon compliant archiving technologies; Drobo prosumer and SMB storage; and Retrospect onpremises and cloud storage.

Gal Naor

StorOne develops softwaredefined storage technology for all-flash or hybrid arrays, virtual storage, secondary storage or cloud storage, and supports all protocols including block, file and object storage using NVMe, Intel Optane and SSD. It can also be used as the base for an on-premises cloud storage offering.

Dan Jaworski

SwiftStack, which in March was acquired by Nvidia, develops a software-driven data storage and management platform for data-intensive workflows that provides businesses access to data across the edge, data centers and public clouds. Its on-premises, scale-out and geographically distributed object and file storage product scales to hundreds of petabytes.

Philip Wong

Synology develops network-attached storage, networking and surveillance technology.

Its NAS line includes rackmount and desktop models with capabilities aimed at home and personal users to SMBs to enterprises.

The company also develops software targeting data protection, cloud, and file share and synchronization clients.

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CR N STORAG E 100 Vast Data

Violin Systems

VMware

Weka.IO

Zadara

Co-Founder, CEO

President, CEO

CEO

Co-Founder, CEO

CEO

Renen Hallak

Todd Oseth

Vast Data in early 2019 unveiled a new $40 million funding round and introduced its Universal Storage system, which targets high-performance workloads such as AI and deep learning with a combination of high-performance NVMe-over-Fabric, consumer-grade QLC (quadlevel cell) flash technology, and 3D Xpoint non-volatile memory.

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All-flash storage vend o r Vi o l i n Systems is focused on tier-zero and tier-one workloads, including online transaction processing, virtual desktop infrastructure, AI, machine learning and IoT. The company, which in the past was known for its high-performance memory technology, last year expanded with the acquisition of the X-IO storage business.

Pat Gelsinger VMware’s vSAN, or Virtual SAN, softwaredefined storage is at the heart of many private and public clouds and works in conjunction with other VMware software for managing virtual volumes and providing disaster recovery.

It also offers software for building hyper-converged infrastructure integrating compute, storage and networking capabilities.

Liran Zvibel

We k a I O ’ s file system promises fast performance and endless scalability, with a single global namespace for a shared data lake that can access and manage trillions of files from one directory. Its NVMe-native shared file system runs on commodity servers with high bandwidth and low latency performance in InfiniBand or Ethernetbased clusters.

Nelson Nahum The Zadara C l o u d Platform combines industry-standard x86 server hardware with the company’s software-defined storage technology to offer customers enterprise-class performance, security, and scalability along with multitenant cloud capabilities. The technology works with any data type and any protocol at any location across hundreds of nodes.

STORAGE COMPONENT VENDORS

While software is what pushes data here and there, that software and that data need a hardware base on which to operate.

The manufacturing of hardware and software components continues to thrive as vendors and their customers look for better ways to manage data and find value in it.

Arm

Atto

Cisco Systems

CRU

Excelero

CEO

Co-Founder, President, CEO

Chairman, CEO

President, CEO

Co-Founder, CEO

Simon Segars

Chuck Robbins

Randal Barber

Lior Gal

Arm processors are used in multiple types of systems ranging from servers to IoT as a low-cost alternative to the x86-compatible processors. On the storage side, two of the company’s processors, the Cortex-A for highest performance and the Cortex-R for reliable mission-critical performance, are commonly used.

Atto works with partners to deliver end-to-end solutions to better store, manage and deliver data. It manufactures host adapters, network adapters, intelligent bridges, Thunderbolt adapters and software, with connectivity to all storage interfaces including Fibre Channel, SAS, SATA, iSCSI, Ethernet, NVMe and Thunderbolt.

Cisco’s networking expertise extends to the storage industry where its Ethernet, Fibre Channel and SD-WAN technologies help businesses network their storage, including storage with the latest in high-performance capabilities. The company is also a developer of hyper-converged infrastructure with its HyperFlex line.

CRU develops rugged and durab l e Tr a d e Agreements Act-compliant removable storage devices to secure sensitive data for military and government agencies and the digital cinema industry. CR U removable drives may be created in partnership with OEMs, which then integrate them into desktops, workstations, laptops and purpose-built systems.

Excelero delivers low-latency distributed block storage for web-scale applications. The company’s software-defined NVMesh platform pools NVMe storage across networks at local speeds and latencies, letting businesses maximize NVMe utilization, including capacity, performance and endurance, across their infrastructure. It supports any hardware, as well as any network fabrics and protocols.

Formulus Black

Intel

Kanguru

Kingston

Kioxia

CEO

CEO

President, CEO

Co-Founder, CEO

President, CEO

Jing Xie

Formulus Black is the developer of FO R SA, a software stack that lets any workload run in memory without modification.

FORSA pools physical server memory for use as a high-performance storage media for low-latency and I/O-intensive applications.

FORSA can be managed via an intuitive GUI and RESTful APIs.

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Timothy Klein

Robert Swan While Intel is best known for its processors used in servers and storage, the company also offers a wide array of SSDs as well as its Intel Optane memory products for high-performance data storage and access. Intel also offers Virtual RAID on CPU as well as caching acceleration software.

Don Brown

Kanguru provides hardwareencrypted U S B devices, portable data storage, secure remote management offerings and drive duplication equipment. Many of its products are FIPS 140-2 and Common Criteria EAL 2+ certified. Its Trade Agreements Act compliance lets it work with government and military clients.

John Tu

Kingston is the world’s largest independent manufacturer of memory products. The company develops a complete line of SSDs, USB flash drives, memory modules, memory cards and card readers, and embedded storage for personal use as well as for server and data center users, system builders and industrial manufacturers.

Nobuo Hayasaka Kioxia until October 2019 was known as To s h i b a Memory, which itself was spun off from Toshiba Corp. Xioxia is a world leader in memory including SLC NAND flash memory, NAND with integrated controllers, and its 3D BiCS FLASH technology. The company also develops enterprise, data center and client SSDs.

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Mellanox Technologies

Micron Technology

NGD Systems

Eyal Waldman

President, CEO

Founder, Chairman, CEO

Mellanox develops end-to-end Ethernet and InfiniBand intelligent interconnect products and services for servers, storage and hyperconverged infrastructure for markets like highperformance computing, enterprise data centers, Web 2.0, cloud, storage, network security and more.

Mellanox is in the process of being acquired by Nvidia.

M i c r o n Technology manufactures a broad portfolio of memory and storage technologies including DRAM and D RAM modules, NAND flash, NOR flash, and 3D XPoint memory.

The company also offers memory cards for missionimportant applications, and SSDs for client, enterprise, cloud and industrial use.

N G D Systems develops highperformance NVMe-based S S Ds using a 14nm ASIC-based controller with capacities of up to 64 TB. The company also develops the NGD Systems Newport platform that combines its SSDs with in-situ processing to perform AI and big data management inside a storage device in real time.

Other World Computing, or OWC, started developing memory upgrades to early Apple computers, but is now a developer of a wide range of memory, SD and external storage products. Its SSD product line includes high-performance NVMe SSDs, SSDs specifically for the Mac line, and mSATA bootable SSDs.

Radian develops flash storage for data center workloads, including flash-based SSDs and NVRAM-based SSDs. The company also develops Symphonic, which replaces the flash transition layer of SDs with a combination of host-side software libraries and SSD firmware that turns the SSD into an offload accelerator engine.

Samsung

Seagate Technology

Toshiba Electronic

Western Digital

Vice Chairman, CEO

CEO

Super Micro Computer

CEO

CEO

Hiroshi Fukuchi President, CEO

After the 2019 spinoff of the Kioxia flash memory and SSD business from Toshiba, Toshiba Electronic Devices & Storage Corp. focused on the hard disk drive business. This includes enterprise, mobile and consumer hard drives, including drives optimized for cloud-scale capacity, enterprise capacity and enterprise performance.

Western Digital is one of the world’s top hard drive and SSD manufacturers, with a wide range of drives for PC, data center, and embedded use, targeting high-performance to big data applications.

The company also develops storage shelves, storage servers and composable infrastructure.

Sanjay Mehrotra

Nader Salessi

President, CEO, Director

Ki-Nam Kim

The semiconductor business of Samsung builds a wide range of DRAM memory, mobile storage devices and SSDs for client, data center and enterprise storage users. This includes the Samsung PM1643, which at up to 30.72 TB of capacity in a 2.5-inch form factor, offers the world’s largest storage density.

Dave Mosley

Seagate Technology is a world leader in the production of hard drives and SSDs for client, data center, and enterprise use. This includes the Seagate Nytro enterprise SSDs for performance, the Exos enterprise hard drives for capacity and modular storage systems, and the Lyve Drive transportable storage shuttles.

Charles Liang

Supermicro develops high-performance server and storage technology it sells to business users or to system builders who then add their own value and brand to the platform. It offers generalpurpose storage systems, top-loading storage systems for software-defined data centers, and allflash NVMe systems for advanced computing.

Other World Computing

Radian Memory Systems

Founder, CEO

Co-Founder, CEO

Larry O’Connor

Devices & Storage Corp.

Mike Jadon

David Goeckeler

2020 CR N

STORAG E 100

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TECH E LITE 250

Top-Tier Results:

Training, Certifications Pave The Way To Success Scan here to see the full TechElite 250 database at crn.com

By Rick Whiting

B

usinesses and organizations are calling upon solution providers for an increasingly broad range of technologies, services and expertise to help them meet today’s IT challenges, whether implementing a new type of technology or undertaking a highstakes cloud or digital transformation initiative.

To meet those demands, solution providers, VARs, MSPs and strategic service providers must always be at the top of their game in terms of business and technology skills. And to do that, solution providers must maintain high levels of training and certification from the IT vendors they partner with and achieve the highest tiers within those vendors’ partner programs.

CRN’s annual Tech Elite 250 recognizes IT solution and strategic service providers in the U.S. and Canada that have reached the highest levels within IT vendor partner programs.

Some of the solution providers on this year’s list—33, in fact—have been on the Tech Elite 250 every year since its 2011 inauguration. They include Computer Design & Integration, Teterboro, N.J.; Corus360, Peachtree Corners, Ga.; Matrix Integration, Jasper, Ind.; Sirius Computer Solutions, San Antonio; and World Wide Technology, Maryland Heights, Mo. World Wide Technology boasts certifications and high partner levels with just about every major IT vendor including Amazon Web Services, Cisco Systems, Hewlett Packard Enterprise and NetApp. The solution provider, No. 8 on the 2019 CRN Solution Provider 500, is a Titanium partner with Dell Technologies and a Principal Partner with VMware—the top partner levels for those vendors.

“Customers are really scratching their heads on, ‘What is the most effective way to build an enterprise architecture that includes both on-premises and public cloud, and how do we do that,’” WWT CEO Jim Kavanaugh said in an interview with CRN late last year, speaking about his company’s partnerships with Dell and VMware. “We’re working very closely across all Dell EMC, as well as with VMware, to help drive these multi-cloud strategies that customers are challenged with today.”

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Almost one-fifth of this year’s Tech Elite 250 are making the list for the first time, however. Take Sycomp, a Foster City, Calif.-based provider of data center and security solutions that holds high-level certifications from AWS, Cisco, IBM and NetApp, among others.

Those tight relationships pay off. Sycomp was named NetApp’s Professional Services Partner of the Year in 2019 thanks to the solution provider’s use of key performance metrics: attach rate, training and technical investment, and installed base analysis, to determine the efficiency, growth and investment in services delivery through NetApp’s Professional Services Certified program. “Sycomp recognizes NetApp as a very strategic and close partner in delivering data center solutions and services to our clients globally,” Sycomp CEO Mike Symons said in a statement.

ConvergeOne, a leading global IT services provider of collaboration and technology solutions, is also on the Tech Elite 250 list for the first time. The Bloomington, Minn.-based company, No. 36 on the 2019 CRN Solution Provider 500, holds some of the highest partner tiers and certifications from AWS, Cisco, Dell Technologies, IBM and Microsoft, among others.

ConvergeOne, for example, is a Cisco Gold Certified Partner that was named as that vendor’s U.S. Central Partner of the Year at the Cisco Partner Summit 2019 in November. The strategic service provider was also recognized for maintaining deep domain knowledge in cybersecurity architecture and its ability to offer cutting-edge, cost-effective solutions and services for SLED (state, local and education) computing.

The following are snapshots of 25 solution providers who are making the Tech Elite 250 list for the first time.They include highlights of their partner program levels with AWS, Cisco, Dell Technologies, Google, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, IBM, Juniper Networks, Microsoft, NetApp, Nutanix, Oracle, Pure Storage and VMware.

The complete list can be viewed online at crn.com/techelite250. ■ For information on purchasing the complete list with all collected firmographic data, please contact sales@thechannelcompany.com or call 508-416-1175.

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Cambridge Computer Services WALTHAM, MASS. Top Executive: Deena Berton, CEO Specializations Include: Cisco Premier Certified; Dell Titanium; HPE Silver; Oracle Gold; VMware Advanced

Cerium Networks SPOKANE, WASH. Top Executive: Roger Junkermier, President Specializations Include: Cisco Gold Certified; Dell Gold; Microsoft Silver Cloud Platform, Gold Data Center, Gold Cloud Productivity; VMware Advanced

ClearShark HANOVER, MD. Top Executive: Martin Bentz, CEO Specializations Include: AWS Consulting, Advanced; Cisco Select Certified; HPE Silver; NetApp FlexPod; Nutanix Master; VMware Advanced

Competitive Computing COLCHESTER, VT. Top Executive: Martin Thieret, CEO, Infrastructure Practice Manager Specializations Include: Cisco Premier Certified; Dell Gold; Microsoft Silver Cloud Platform, Silver Cloud Productivity; Nutanix Pioneer; VMware Advanced

ConvergeOne BLOOMINGTON, MINN. Top Executive: John McKenna Jr., Chairman, CEO Specializations Include: AWS Consulting, Advanced; Cisco Gold Certified; Dell Titanium; HPE Gold; IBM Platinum; Microsoft Gold Cloud Platform, Gold Data Center, Gold Cloud Productivity; VMware Advanced

CTG Federal GAITHERSBURG, MD. Top Executive: Brad Baker, Managing Partner Specializations Include: Cisco Select Certified; NetApp Cloud First, FlexPod; Nutanix Scaler; VMware Advanced

Cyber Advisors MAPLE GROVE, MINN. Top Executive: Shane Vinup, President, CEO Specializations Include: Cisco Select Certified; Dell Platinum; Microsoft Silver Cloud Platform, Gold Data Center, Gold Cloud Productivity; VMware Advanced

Datatrend Technologies MINNETONKA, MINN. Top Executive: Charlie Cox, President, CEO Specializations Include: Cisco Premier Certified; Dell Gold; HPE Silver; IBM Platinum; VMware Advanced

DataVox HOUSTON Top Executive: Steve Ferguson, CEO Specializations Include: Cisco Gold Certified; HPE Gold; Microsoft Gold Cloud Platform, Gold Data Center, Gold Cloud Productivity; VMware Advanced

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TECH E LITE 250 DMC Technology Group TOLEDO, OHIO Top Executive: Pat Sheehan, President Specializations Include: Cisco Premier Certified; Dell Gold; IBM Silver; Microsoft Silver Cloud Platform, Gold Data Center, Gold Cloud Productivity; VMware Advanced

EVT SANTA MONICA, CALIF. Top Executive: Joseph Rumsey, CEO Specializations Include: Cisco Premier Certified; HPE Platinum; NetApp Cloud First, FlexPod; VMware Advanced

FCN ROCKVILLE, MD. Top Executive: Dennis Sullivan, COO Specializations Include: Cisco Gold Certified; HPE Silver; IBM Silver; NetApp FlexPod; Oracle Gold; VMware Advanced

First National Technology Solutions OMAHA, NEB. Top Executive: Kim Whittaker, President Specializations Include: AWS Consulting; Dell Platinum; Microsoft Gold Cloud Platform, Gold Cloud Productivity; VMware Principal

Flair Data Systems PLANO, TEXAS Top Executive: Bob Burgess, President Specializations Include: Cisco Gold Certified; HPE Silver; Microsoft Silver Data Center, Gold Cloud Platform; VMware Advanced

Four Points Technology CHANTILLY, VA. Top Executive: David Gilchrist, President, CEO Specializations Include: AWS Consulting, Advanced; Cisco Select Certified; Dell Platinum; NetApp Public Cloud Integrator, Cloud First; VMware Advanced

High Point Networks WEST FARGO, N.D. Top Executive: Tom McDougall, President, CEO Specializations Include: Cisco Premier Certified; Dell Gold; HPE Gold; Juniper Elite; Microsoft Gold Cloud Platform, Gold Data Center, Gold Cloud Productivity; VMware Advanced

Intuitive Technology Partners EDISON, N.J. Top Executive: Jay Modh, President, CEO Specializations Include: AWS Consulting, Advanced; Cisco Premier Certified; VMware Principal

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IronBrick VIENNA, VA. Top Executive: Kevin Murphy, CEO Specializations Include: AWS Consulting, Select; Cisco Premier Certified; NetApp FlexPod; VMware Advanced

Levi Ray & Shoup SPRINGFIELD, ILL. Top Executive: Dick Levi, President, CEO Specializations Include: Cisco Select Certified; HPE Silver; IBM Platinum; Microsoft Silver Cloud Platform, Silver Cloud Productivity, Gold Data Center; VMware Advanced

Perficient ST. LOUIS Top Executive: Jeff Davis, Chairman, President, CEO Specializations Include: AWS Consulting, Advanced; IBM Platinum; Microsoft Gold Cloud Platform, Gold Data Center, Gold Cloud Productivity; Oracle Platinum

Saturn NEW YORK Top Executive: Alan Kreiger, President Specializations Include: Cisco Premier Certified; HPE Platinum; IBM Silver

Strategic Communications LOUISVILLE, KY. Top Executive: Kathy Mills, President, CEO Specializations Include: AWS Consulting, Advanced; Cisco Gold Certified; Oracle Gold; VMware Advanced

Sycomp FOSTER CITY, CALIF. Top Executive: Mike Symons, CEO Specializations Include: AWS Consulting, Advanced; Cisco Gold Certified; IBM Platinum; VMware Advanced

Technology Group Solutions LENEXA, KAN. Top Executive: Lenora Payne, CEO Specializations Include: Cisco Premier Certified; Dell Titanium; HPE Platinum; Oracle Gold; VMware Principal

VION HERNDON, VA. Top Executive: Tom Frana, Chairman, CEO Specializations Include: Cisco Premier Certified; NetApp Public Cloud Integrator, Cloud Service Provider; Oracle Gold; VMware Advanced

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ON TH E R ECOR D

These Changes Create An Opportunity We’ve Not Seen Before

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By Robert Faletra

OR THOSE OF US who have been around

for a while, we thought we had seen everything. That was before the coronavirus washed ashore and sent our health and economic future into a tailspin.

Hopefully everyone near and dear to each of us is and will remain healthy as we push forward. The challenge something like this confronts us with, however, also lends us opportunity from a business perspective.

It’s hard to imagine that when we get past the danger of the coronavirus we don’t begin to re-engineer the entire supply chain throughout the world. This is also reshaping how we work and will likely even change social customs.

Is the handshake, which began in the fifth century, something that needs to change?

I don’t know about that, but there are a lot of people who have been introduced to technology that has kept them productive and changed the way they work—and they may not want to go back to the old ways.

More importantly, every business now realizes it must have the capability to keep the workforce in place should this happen again. So, fundamentally, the network of every business is going to need to be reassessed and outfitted for better remote access and capability.

Is there any doubt that videoconferencing is now a necessity and no longer a nice-to-have? It’s not only important for large businesses, it’s essential for small businesses as well.

There are many platforms to accomplish videoconferencing but to make it work well, networks need to be finely tuned.

That is likely to mean a boost in sales of servers and other networking hardware in the coming months, along with remote access software, virtual private networking, network security, and the list goes on.

Given how rapidly the push to work from home arose, is there any doubt that anyone who requires a computer at work needs the mobility of a laptop or Chromebook to be

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able to easily move to a remote location?

In addition, video allows businesses to conduct a more engaging sales call instead of a less personal phone conversation when a face-to-face meeting can’t happen.

But the bigger trend here is that every business and occupation will be in reassessment mode. Elementary school teachers must be able to conduct classes remotely moving forward. Universities can no longer dabble in distance learning—they must be able to do it effectively. This is not only a technology sales opportunity but also a training opportunity for strategic service providers.

To capitalize on this, strategic service providers are going to need the sales skills and understanding of the customer to be able to envision how technology can remake the way its business runs. They also need to be able to deploy the right combination of technology to put the business in a position to weather these types of storms moving forward.

There is going to be a large opportunity when we come out of this and the economy picks up in the third and fourth quarters of the year. It is going to be driven in part by the fact that the virus may be in decline in the warmer months but it’s not completely going away. It may well raise its head again come late fall and winter, according to the medical community.

Businesses that ignore that possibility and do not plan and prepare technologically will be at great risk. If that isn’t a motivator for the customer, I don’t know what is. It’s an opportunity we have not seen since the early days of the internet when every business had to get online and we saw a huge business uptick.

Don’t miss this opportunity to boost your customers’ business and along with it yours as well. n

BACKTALK: Make something happen. Robert Faletra is Executive Chairman of The Channel Company. You can contact him via email at rfaletra@thechannelcompany.com.

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www.thechannelco.com/events

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10/18-20

NexGen Conference

Hilton Anaheim • Anaheim, CA

10/29

Women of the Channel NEXT-GENERATION LEADERS

Loews Vanderbilt Hotel • Nashville, TN

NOV.

11/11

Women of the Channel Leadership Summit EUROPE

8 Northumberland Avenue London • United Kingdom

DEC.

12/7-8

Women of the Channel Leadership Summit EAST

Hilton Midtown • New York, NY

Copyright ©2020 The Channel Company, LLC. All tradenames appearing above are registered trademarks of The Channel Company, LLC. All rights reserved.

2020_EventsCalendar_Print-7.75x10.5-2020204_V2.indd 1

4/7/20 9:51 AM

B:8” T:7.75”

© 2020 HPED LP

S:7”

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CLIENT:

STUDIO#: S-0002318.1 Agency Job #: PO #: File Name: Media Type: Issue Date: Creation Date: Last Modified: Publications: Job Desc:

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3-25-2020 9:14 AM

Effective DPI:

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3-25-2020 3:24 PM

Deliverable:

04 13 2020

WC

OK

Epson 133 SWOP

ROUND #:

HPE

8” x 10.75”

VENDOR:

PRODIGIOUS in NY

Name Copy Writer:

-

Traffic: Dorina Sharara Production: Dorina Sharara

Page 4/C Bleed Nimble Storage

Account N. Prince Manager: Project J. Cloughen Manager: Proofreader: Peter Herpich Studio:

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CRN Magazine

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HPE 018557_Storage_Nimble_Fireworks_CRN.indd

Date

Art Director: H. Rosin

Notes:

Proof Stock:

Proofed @ None

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1.1

T:10.5”

store your customers’ data—it provides a superior storage experience that predicts

B:10.75”

S:9.75”

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