VMware boosts VIPs

Market leading virtualisation vendor VMware has announced major program enhancements to its VIP Partner Program.  The enhancements are intended to make it easier for partners to quickly establish or expand their virtualisation practices.  The enhancements include additional training options and improved marketing tools to expand opportunities, and mean that all VIP partners can now participate in the “advantage +” incentive program at different levels.“The demand for virtualisation means we’ve really had to skill up our partners,” said David Blackman, ANZ Channels Director for VMware. “We recruited a lot of new partners in the last year, and on the back of that we have really enhanced the VIP program.”To increase opportunities and open them up to a greater number of partners, VMware has created additional margin for new accounts, and has lowered the minimum sale amount to US $3,000 to register accounts with VMware.  Professional partners who previously had no way to register new accounts with VMware can now take advantage of the associated benefits.“The price reduction for entry points in New Zealand means partners will be able to register almost all deals, and receive discounts off list prices.  Partners involved in our special pricing program [VPP] will also receive registration opportunities,” clarified Blackman.Ashwin Patel has recently been hired as a VMware BDM at VMware’s sole New Zealand distributor, Datastor, to further assist channel partners.  Visit www.vmware.com/partners/vip for more information.