CA Technologies partner program reaches Aussie shores

CA Technologies has formally kicked off a simplified partner program first announced late last year, in a bid to improve its relationship with the channel and expand its cloud management software business.

The software vendor has replaced the gold, silver and platinum tiers of its partner program with 'advanced' and 'premier' levels, in response to partners who called for a simplified and more defined structure.

It also overhauled its MyCA Partner Portal to include upgraded sales tools, training and marketing support.

The updated program includes new technical support and resources, online forums and communities, marketing tools and resources, and sales and education benefits.

CA said financial incentives, such as marketing and business development funds, had been improved but declined to disclose details.

CA historically has had a lacklustre reputation as a channel-friendly company, but has begun working towards growing its partner base.

Klasie Holtzhausen, CA's Australia and New Zealand channel director, told CRN CA hoped to increase its indirect sales in the coming year. Currently, about 40 percent of CA's ANZ revenues flow through partners.

The company’s channel drive was marked by the recent signing of a deal with distributor Westcon for its enterprise solutions in Australia, expanding a pre-existing partnership in New Zealand.

Current partners will be automatically assimilated into the new program. Holtzhausen declined to comment on new partners involved in the program but said the response had so far been positive. 

New partners are able to enter the program as members without an assigned tier. Depending on the following level of investment in CA, partners can grow to advanced and premier status. 

“All benefits directly correspond to the partner type and level,” Holtzhausen said. “This differs from the previous program, which was largely based on how much top-line revenue a partner carried and had little differentiation between the tier designations (silver, gold and platinum).”

CA has spent about $US2 billion globally in the last two years on acquiring a number of cloud computing management software developers, including Nimsoft, Interactive TKO (ITKO), 3Tera, Arcot Systems, and Oblicore.

Its channel drive has been fueled by a changing market, specifically with adoption of cloud computing among mid-size organisations. 

At last year’s CA World conference in Las Vegas, CA CEO Bill McCracken said the channel would form an important part of reaching that market. 

"We're doing this because of the transition that's happening in those midmarket accounts with respect to cloud and SaaS. It's a big, open opportunity for us and there's significant demand for our products there," he said.

“And because those mid-market customers are largely serviced by solution providers, systems integrators and, increasingly, managed service providers, the channel plays a major role in CA's strategy.”