Advertisment

Riverbed Rise - The New Channel Partner Program For The Changing IT Landscape

In a conversation with DQ Channel, Uma Thana Balasingam gave fruitful insights about Riverbed Rise - the new channel partner program.

author-image
Jagrati Rakheja
Updated On
New Update
RiverBed

When transformation in technology is at its best, one needs to be proactive in apprehending the changes taking place. To comprehend this conversion from physical to digital, the consumer would require new programs to actively make full use of the new and innovative technologies.

Advertisment

So, here we have Riverbed Rise, a new channel partner program to help you. Thus, in a conversation with DQ Channel, Uma Thana Balasingam, Vice President, Channels for Riverbed Asia Pacific and Japan gave fruitful insights about this new channel partner program.

Brief Of The New Channel Partner Program

Digital transformation and cloud economics have changed the game for the IT industry. Customers need to consume IT in new ways, and this has disrupted the IT value chain. The new reality demands a complete rethink in how we deliver technology that matters to our customers, but it also demands a totally new approach to partnering.

Advertisment

Riverbed is championing both in order to help its partners adapt to disruptive changes more quickly and thrive in the new digital/cloud world. In short: we’re shaking things up.

Riverbed Rise is our new channel partner program that aligns with the changing IT landscape and how partners are evolving to solve their customers’ technology needs. The new program is a departure from traditional, competency-based programs to an innovative, flexible dividends-based design. It aims to reward all types of partners, business models and various customer technology consumption preferences.

You can think of dividends like rewards points. Reward points (dividends) are assigned to recognize partner performance and capability. The more reward points (dividends) a partner earns, the greater the benefits they will receive.

Advertisment

This is a significant change which seeks to take ‘first mover’ advantage of the new IT market supply chain dynamics. Riverbed’s partner ‘first’ initiative creates a new partner relationship framework that is ‘fit for purpose’ in the cloud/digital Era. It fully recognises the huge contribution that our partners make, and reinforces Riverbed’s commitment to its partner community.

Benefits Of Riverbed Rise For Partners and The Company.Riverbed. What makes it Unique from The Previous Program?

The previous Riverbed Performance Partner Program was a traditional, competency-based program. Riverbed Rise is an innovative, flexible dividends-based program.

Advertisment

In short, the program makes it simple, flexible and profitable for partners to work with us. Simple, in that it removes complexity from the previous models, where discounts and benefits were dependent on the number of competencies you earn; Flexible, in that it takes into account that different partners sell in different ways and that they should be rewarded (and able to spend as they choose) accordingly; and Profitable, in that it gives partners greater opportunities to profit – both through cash rebates and business investment tied to dividends.

Riverbed’s Channel Strategy for The Next Two Years?

We’re 100% focused on delivering mutual success with our partners.

Advertisment

Our channel strategy is directly aligned to our sales strategy in two key areas: Existing Account penetration – Growing share-of-wallet of existing accounts with new technologies, flexible consumption models, refresh/renew and trade-up; and New customer acquisition – Selling new technologies and consumption models to a whole new group of accounts.

Our focus over the next few years will be on synchronizing Riverbed’s efforts through the channel, managing the partner program and focusing on enablement to drive partner productivity and integrating them into the commercial sales motions.

What are Your Views on India’s Channel Market as Compared to Other Developing/Developed Nations? What is Your Expectation from India?

The Government’s Digital India programme and move towards a cashless society has given rise to a new era. And the pace of change is overwhelming. We expect that there will be an acceleration within the channel industry as smaller VARs and systems integrators are recognizing that the market demand for their traditional value-add is diminishing.

To conclude, Uma stated, “Our Riverbed Rise program is completely aligned with our sales strategy, which is to grow share-of-wallet of existing accounts and acquire new customers. Also, considering the Indian IT leaders race to implement digital transformation technologies, it is also a growth opportunity for channels to increase their customer base”.

channel-partner-program riverbed riverbed-rise
Advertisment