By now, we’re all up to speed with the latest news from Citrix: the company has announced major changes to the hierarchy and structure of the business which will change how partners are rewarded for doing business.
At DataSolutions we’ve been talking to many of our channel partners about the upcoming changes and what they mean for the channel.
Because we’re committed to helping our partners navigate the new partner program, in this blog we’ve highlighted the major changes to Citrix’s partner program and outlined what these changes mean for partners. Change can be disconcerting, but we’re confident that the changes are positive and that business will continue to grow, and we’ll be working closely with all our partners to make it so.
The headline
Citrix recently announced a significant overhaul to its partner program. Cloud Software Group (CSG) is rolling out a standardised channel program across its portfolio, starting with Citrix. On March 8th, Citrix partners will move into the new Fusion Partner Program.
End User customers will be split between two tiers: the enterprise tier, which is a group of named and managed end-user customers, and the commercial tier, which will cover all other end-user customers. Both tiers will have a dedicated new sales leadership, along with reorganised Citrix field sales and internal sales teams. GEOs are restructured into three categories: North America, Europe, and Emerging Markets.
What does this mean for channel partners?
Citrix recognises that its existing program guide is difficult for partners to navigate. A key motivating factor behind the program’s changes is to create a partner system that is clearer and more effective. To this end, channel fulfilment tiers are being simplified. From March 8 there will be three tiers: Platinum, Silver and Systems Integrator (SI). This flattening of the channel structure, by reducing the number of partner tiers, is an effort to simplify and streamline the partner program.
We echo Citrix’s assertions that channel partners are more important now than ever. The vast majority of sales will go through channel, and channel incentives are moving to predominantly front-end discounts rather than back-end rebates. Citrix is offering additional incentives to channel partners to focus their efforts in the commercial customer segment in an effort to drive growth and reach in this area and to give channel partners more autonomy.
The overwhelming majority of Citrix’s customers in the UK and Ireland will belong in the commercial tier, with only a relatively small number of companies classed as enterprise. Platinum tier partners, meanwhile, will be rewarded with additional incentives and receive greater discounts. These stronger up-front discounts and rewards for new pipeline creation is a positive move for channel partners.
Above all, this renewed structure is designed to give partners ‘predictability’ and ‘profitability,’ in Citrix’s own words, and to make it easier for partners to understand the program incentives and how to be successful.
How we’re supporting customers
While we understand that partners may feel apprehensive about the upcoming changes to the partner program, our overriding belief is that where there’s change, there’s opportunity.
Our focus now is to support channel partners as Citrix transitions to the new partner program. We understand the changes: how the new tiers work, what incentives are on offer, how the channel will be affected. That’s why we’re in a position to navigate these changes with you – we can work alongside you as you adapt to the new program and advise you on next steps and how to be successful. Please follow up with the DataSolutions team if you have any questions about the Fusion partner program and need our support. It’s business as usual, and we will continue to support our partners wherever we can,
