In keeping with new channel chief Alex Thurber’s mandate to streamline channel operations and increase profitability to the partner community, McAfee, Inc. (NYSE:MFE) today said its re-vamped worldwide channel program will be value-based plan that will focus on partner profitability.
Key to the new channel program will be the margin advantage area along with a new enablement system and the Secure Computing partner program integration.
Thurber said the launch of the enhanced McAfee channel program represents our ongoing approach of listening to partner feedback and rewarding partners for the investment they make in McAfee. Thurber, who is the senior vice president of worldwide channels at McAfee, added that the company modified its SecurityAlliance partner program in an attempt to make channel profits easier.
The margin advantage area of the program includes a number of sales incentive programs that partners can use to better predict margin payout. Those channel partners who invest in accredited sales and technical resources from McAfee for example will be able to differentiate themselves from others and increase their margins. The margin advantage area is categorized into three focus areas:
1. Margin Building programs, which give partners a combination of margin enhancement programs such as deal registration, tiered pricing and teaming plans to maximize front-end margin;
2. Business Building programs, which includes a market development fund plan for driving pipeline opportunities through relationship building and demand generation activities; and
3. Profit Building programs, which include various incentives for partners and its sales teams.
Deal protection and incumbency protection are the only two new margin advantage programs for Canada. The McAfee Deal Protection policy states that if an opportunity has been approved as a deal registration or if an approved applicable teaming plan is in place with a McAfee partner, quote exceptions or special pricing will only be offered to the original McAfee partner. In effect, this offers Deal Protection for the authorized partner for this target opportunity. Similarly, Incumbency Advantage provides a registration option that will provide additional margin to the reseller that closed the original business.
The second area of interest for the partner community is McAfee’s enablement advantage area.
This area hopes to increase channel resources in the field with new Channel Technical Enablement Engineers who will focus on helping partners become technically enabled.
Additionally, they will provide expanded technical pre-sales content to include solution sizing, demonstration capabilities and technical positioning.
McAfee said that it will also release a new enablement program called Ready, Set, Sell. This role-based enablement methodology takes a three phased approach to partner training that can be treated as a checklist to guide partners throughout the McAfee SecurityAlliance Partner Program, training and enablement activities.
With the McAfee ACE Partner Readiness Program, the security vendor can now provide recognition and rewards for partner sales and technical professionals who have achieved the highest levels of certification within a specific Solution Competency.
The last piece of McAfee’s new channel puzzle is the integration of Secure Computing. Upon the acquisition of Secure Computing one year ago, McAfee announced a phased approach to integration. All phases are now complete and all partners in good standing from Secure Computing have been integrated into the McAfee partner program.