NetApp prunes its partner base

NetApp has launched an initiative to tighten its reseller base by evaluating partners' commitment to selling NetApp products.

The vendor was switching from "evergreen" partner agreements, where resellers only had to sign once to become a permanent partner, to rolling one-year contracts meant to discourage "opportunistic" resellers.

Resellers in the bottom quarter by turnover would not have their contracts automatically renewed and would have to contact the vendor to discuss continuing the relationship,  Todd Parsons, NetApp's Australian and New Zealand channel and marketing director, said. 

"We are encouraging partners that aren't that active to discuss whether they want to continue the relationship and how they can be more strategic," Parsons said.

NetApp wanted to look at the business relationship with a reseller, its target industries and the planned direction of growth.

"We are expecting to lose some partners in return for partners that want to work," he said.

The vendor hoped that by removing inactive resellers it would be able to give more focus to its active partners, as would its distributor Distribution Central.

The rebate program has been rejigged to focus on encouraging partners to grow their spend and raising their partnership status.  The size of rebates increased in line with a partner's status; platinum received the largest rebates over gold or silver.

The rebates were aimed at reducing opportunity costs for technicians undergoing NetApp's free training for certifications, Parsons said.

In the past four months NetApp has hired five employees to its channel team. It doubled its dedicated channel development managers to four and increased channel enablement staff from one to four.