CommVault Enhancements to Reseller Program Bring New Value to Technology Managers

Savvy technology managers of small and midsize businesses (SMBs) understand three things about the rapidly changing nature of technologies in today's world:

• First, they know running their core business consumes all of their time and the last thing that they have time to do is track every change in technology and which ones are relevant to their business and which ones are not.
• Second, they also understand that if they are not constantly updating their businesses with relevant, cost-effective technologies, they loose their competitive edge in the market place.
• Third, they know how important it is to partner with resellers that they trust will act in their best interests, guide them in their selection of technologies for their businesses need and who can then support them as they grow.

Yet a critical element missing in this three-step process is how to establish if the reseller or VAR that they rely upon is keeping pace with their company's needs and providing them with the appropriate level of guidance in accordance with the size of their business? Even assuming they are comfortable that their current reseller is meeting their needs, what criteria can they use to establish the credibility of their reseller so they can achieve a greater sense of assurance that they are using the right one for their business?

Unfortunately, there is no easy answer to these questions since programs vary according to the vendors which the resellers represent. However, changes announced today in CommVault's channel program provide greater insight into what technology managers at least should expect from current CommVault resellers and go a long way towards demonstrating how prepared these resellers are to support their business.

Under CommVault's enhanced reseller program, CommVault resellers will now fall into one of three tiers which are laid out as follows (from lowest to highest), each with specific reseller requirements:

• Authorized. Becoming an authorized CommVault partner requires the least amount of work for a CommVault partner to achieve. The reseller needs to provide one sales and one technical resource that each need to pass an online accreditation course as well as training on CommVault products.
• Gold. Gold CommVault partners must satisfy the requirements of the Authorized program plus have an additional sales resource (total of 2) and one engineer that are certified in CommVault's Simpana software. To achieve this certification, the engineer has to complete two 5-day training classes at CommVault's facilities. Further, the Gold partner has to reach a specified sales target every year.
• Platinum. Platinum CommVault partners (of which there are currently 4) must meet all of the requirements of the Authorized and Gold programs plus have two (2) certified CommVault engineers on staff and satisfy a still higher annual software sales target.

What these revised programs for CommVault's resellers mean to technology managers that engage with them is that they can now more clearly understand at a high level exactly what the value-add of CommVault resellers are at each tier. Further, it can help both the technology manager and the reseller establish appropriate expectations going forward. For instance, it is only logical to expect that as a company grows the complexity and demands of its IT infrastructure will change. These tiers enable technology managers to quickly establish if the reseller is technically savvy enough to support his growing business and use these credentials to justify internally why the company should use this preferred partner.

Technology managers in most SMBs often rely upon their resellers as sources for advice as to how to best move their company forward technologically. But technology managers also sometimes need assurances that their resellers have the needed technical background and qualifications to do this and a means to objectively measure that. CommVault's three new certification tiers helps to more clearly establish how its partner programs work, and provide technology managers deeper insight into what they should realistically expect to obtain from the reseller delivering CommVault solutions with which they are engaged.