Only a week ahead of its Partner Engage conference, security vendor Symantec has announced an updated channel program that includes what it describes as higher earning potential.
The company, which spun off its information management business under Veritas and sold the company in August, had until today, October 5 to operate independently.
This is why it was important to launch the program now, said Stephen Thomas, Americas channel sales leader at Symantec.
“We wanted to drive new partners into the program and make it easier for existing partners to achieve platinum status,” Thomas told CDN, explaining that existing Symantec partners are automatically transitioned into Secure One.
To do this, the company has simplified competency and certification requirements.
With many competencies going with Veritas in the separation, Symantec is now left with four, namely Core Security, Threat Protection, Information Protection or Cyber Security Services.
According to Thomas, while core security is in its own ” Resell based on volume” competency category, the three others fall under the “Integrate based on value” category.
To achieve platinum in “Integrate”, partners now need only achieve the selling threshold for two competencies. Once a partner reaches the platinum in any of the Integrate competencies, it can participate in a predictable GAR across the entire security portfolio, including Core Security.
The earning potential has also been increased.
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“Previously we capped partners at 100 per cent payment on a quarterly basis,” Thomas said. “With the Growth Accelerator Rebate, we’ve extended that to 150 per cent.”
With this update, partners are paid for all transactions starting from the first. Furthermore, thanks to partner feedback, Symantec has stopped holding back a percentage of earnings for annual targets, and has instead opted to pay per quarter. It has also updated the deal registration program to pay up to 20 per cent across the board.
Lastly, Thomas promised more details closer to the conference on what will be a new distributor program.
“This will be our company coming out party, and rebranding and revamping the program is part of the program,” he said. “There’s a new opportunity now. Symantec, the security-focused company, will get partners reignited and reengaged.”
Symantec Secure One is being launched Oct. 5 globally.