2020 was a disruptive year for the technology sector, with major shifts in the way we work forcing vendors to rethink their approach to the channel.

Click through the arrows to see the biggest partner program changes of 2020.

Juniper, Mist revamps partner program

Juniper Networks is making bold moves and wants its channel partners to come along on the journey to sell more cloud-delivered, AI-based services and solutions, according to Juniper channel chief Gordon Mackintosh.

The networking giant is simplifying its approach to partner programming. The separate Juniper and Mist programs are being integrated into one program, which will focus on growth in the enterprise space, said Mackintosh, Juniper’s worldwide vice president of channel and virtual sales who joined the company this year, during the virtual Juniper Partner Summit in November.

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Dell gives partners 20 percent margins on PowerStore

Dell Technologies is looking to open up the storage floodgates via the channel by providing partners with a 20 percent margin on PowerStore deals, along with a new Deal Desk partner support service to help drive more PowerStore wins.

“The partners have spoken to us and said, ‘Hey, we’d really like to see a more predictable and profitable margin,’” said Scott Millard, senior vice president, global channel, alliances and OEM specialty sales in an interview with CRN. “We are now targeting an average margin for our partners at 20 points with PowerStore. … We know how critical it is that we work with partners to continue to grow our share and market leadership. The partners have told us these are investments we need to make, so we’re listening.”

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Cisco overhauls partner program

Cisco dropped the number of its partner programs from upwards of 12 disparate programs and moved to one unified program for Cisco partners of all kinds.

The new Cisco Partner Program is not only greatly simplified, but it will highlight and reward the variety of crucial roles partners play with their end customers, especially as many partners shift to focus on lifecycle and less on products, the tech giant unveiled during Cisco Partner Summit Digital 2020.

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BlackBerry combines enterprise and Cylance partner programs

BlackBerry has combined its Enterprise Partner Program and its Cylance Partner Programs into one comprehensive structure.

Dubbed BlackBerry Partner Program, the new program features a unified sales portal with access to an updated curriculum of training, tools and enablement resources to aid partners’ go-to-market efforts.

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Nutanix consolidates partner program

Hyperconverged infrastructure and enterprise cloud solutions vendor Nutanix has announced a new global partner program called Elevate.

The new program brings together Nutanix’s partner ecosystem, specifically resellers, distributors, MSPs, telcos, hyperscalers, independent software, hardware and platform vendors, global system integrators and services delivery partners, under one integrated architecture.

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HP's new Amplify partner program goes live

HP Inc.'s newly overhauled channel partner program, dubbed HP Amplify, went live yesterday with nearly all existing commercial partners already registered, the company said.

The PC and printer giant first unveiled details about the Amplify program in July, with the goal of giving solution providers plenty of time to digest the many changes in the program before it debuted.

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HPE revamps partner ready program

Hewlett Packard Enterprise is stepping up its no-holds barred everything-as-a-service software pivot for fiscal year 2021 with robust compensation and field sales investments tied to its US$1 billion incentive-packed Partner Ready program.

First off, HPE has added its Ezmeral container and AI operations software platform to its 5x top sales compensation multiplier for partners alongside the GreenLake pay-per-use cloud service and its HPE OneView software management platform.

As part of the stepped-up GreenLake sales offensive, HPE is tripling its GreenLake channel investment and for the first time ever adding a GreenLake sales quota for HPE sales reps.

Read thew full story here.

Lenovo ANZ launches channel "bounce back" program for SMBs

PC vendor Lenovo is set to launch a tailored SMB channel “bounce back” program to help its channel partners in Australia.

The program aims to ensure that its distributors, resellers and other channel partners can manage and ensure their business continuity and be in a strong position to bounce back after the COVID-19 pandemic.

Read the full story here.

Microsoft's new certs push partners to change management

Microsoft has launched a swathe of new offerings for its channel community as it looks to aid partners during the COVID-19 pandemic including a unique change management specialisation.

The company’s commercial partner corporate vice president Gavriella Schuster told CRN Microsoft was launching new offerings for training, differentiated value and customer results.

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VMware’s brave new world starts now

VMware’s new channel program came into effect in February this year.

The data centre infrastructure giant announced the new program, dubbed Channel Connect, in April 2019.

VMware framed the new program as services-driven, revealing that partners would be asked to attain “Master Competencies” that denote skill in, and commitment to, different areas of its product portfolio. The new program would also bring consistency to programs that had sprawled across a decade of evolution and acquisitions.

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