Lenovo Australia launches data centre partner program

Lenovo Australia has unveiled details about its new data centre partner program, which the company launched in Australia and New Zealand today.

The hardware vendor said it had redefined its data centre partner program for greater focus on five key business segments: traditional data infrastructure, software-defined data centre, high-performance computing and artificial intelligence, hyperscale systems, and data centre services. 

Lenovo is promising simplified pathways for partners to grow their revenues through the listed segments, and will reward achievers based on Silver, Gold or Platinum status. 

The announcement follows Lenovo's partner program ramp up in the US, with US channel chief Sammy Kinlaw telling CRN USA: "We're focusing on the client, data centre, the premium markets, and key verticals for growth... services are also important for channel partners to make additional money, like asset tagging and imaging."

Rob Makin, group director of the data centre group for Lenovo ANZ, said the company was excited to launch the program. 

"[This] reflects Lenovo’s solid commitment and dedication to our channel partners. Lenovo is uniquely positioned to help our business partners meet diverse needs in the enterprise market, through best-of-breed data centre solutions and our open eco-system of partnerships with leading IT providers,” Makin said.

Lenovo also revealed its new Lenovo Solution Alliance Partner Program (LSAPP), which will operate withing the vendor's Data Centre Partner Group program and requires partners to commit to developing skills toward digital transformation based on Lenovo hardware.

The LSAPP will also be supported by several of Lenovo's vendor partners, initially including DataCore, Cloudian, Nexenta, Red Hat and Nutanix.

“At Lenovo, we recognise the importance of working closely with our vendor alliance and business partners to jointly discover new opportunities and build incremental revenue streams,” Makin said.

“Our joint partnership with our Lenovo Vendor Alliances will provide deep expertise, innovative and dynamic data centre solutions to customers.”

Lenovo ANZ is expected to announce its new director of channel sales shortly, following the departure of channel chief Margrith Appleby from the role in March.