Virtual Instruments gives its partner program the VIP treatment

Virtual Instruments, a provider of application-centric infrastructure performance management (IPM), has announced a significant refresh of its partner program.

The enhanced global Virtual Instruments Partner (VIP) Program enables participating partners to benefit from attractive profit margins, in addition to rewards based on customer engagement, rather than the traditional model of compliance with training and certification programs.

The VIP Program is designed to recognise channel partners' expertise in enterprise technologies such as server virtualisation, storage, storage networking, application performance management, and cloud infrastructure technologies.

By participating in the program, value-added reseller (VAR) partners gain access to rewards and resources to drive sales, create new opportunities, expand their solution portfolio, increase profitability, and differentiate themselves from their competition.

"Virtual Instruments has listened to the needs of its partner channel, and released an attractive program that caters to the needs of its resellers, while still maintaining the integrity of a traditional partner program," Sirius Computer Solutions strategic alliances and inside sales senior VP Deborah Bannworth says.

"Participating in its VIP Program helps us continue to drive innovation, improve service levels and maximise our clients' performance, while also reducing their infrastructure costs and mitigating risk.

Unlike traditional partner programs, upward progression through the VIP Program is primarily dependent on the introduction of new customer opportunities into Virtual Instruments' sales pipeline, not on compliance requirements or revenue levels.

Partners are protected with a well-defined deal registration process that provides further rewards to VARs who originate opportunities on their own.

"Traditional channel program models massively de-value and marginalise partners by restricting their growth opportunities," Virtual Instruments channel VP Paul Brodie says.

"Our newly enhanced VIP Program is the antithesis of those traditional models. We want to take the heavy lifting away from partners and provide a predictable program that is easy to navigate and doesn't require additional partner resources. Just as importantly, we want to reward our VARs for bringing new deals to the table by leading with our industry-leading app-centric IPM solutions – because to us, that's the definition of a mutually beneficial partnership.

The new VIP Program also offers participants:

• A streamlined onboarding process;
• Increased and guaranteed margin rewards for VI Partner-originated, non-standard pricing opportunities;
• Demand generation programs and access to joint marketing development funds (MDF);
• An easy-to-navigate discount program based on partner tiers and lead origination; and
• Access to online demonstration environments, the VIP Partner Portal, which offers online training, lead and opportunity registration, marketing materials, and more.