Symantec tells top ANZ partners: better profits on the way

Symantec has named its top Australia & New Zealand partners, while also shedding light on its revamped partner program.

[Check out all the photos from the night]

The security and data management giant hosted the annual Pacific Partner Awards last night in Sydney, with Data#3 named its ANZ partner of the year.

Symantec's senior director, Pacific channel sales, Klasie Holtzhausen told guests that the Brisbane-based integrator made the highest revenue contribution in FY14 and registered the highest number of opportunities, representing 38 percent of the total opportunities registered in the Pacific region.

The night's other winners were Ethan Group, Insight, Insentra, Datacom New Zealand and  Westcon New Zealand, which was named Distributor of the Year ANZ.

The evening included a new award category for Specialised Growth Partner of the Year, which went to Brisbane's Intalock.

The new category echoes a broader change to Symantec's partner program to partners for specialising through the addition of 12 new Symantec Solution Competencies.

The revamped program was first announced last year and is due to go live in October, with a phased transition completing in April 2015.

It rewards partners for more than just transactional performance, and includes measurements of factors such as customer satisfaction.

Holtzhausen said: "With our new partner program, due to launch in Australia & New Zealand this year, Symantec is positioned to help our partners drive growth and profitability by delivering differentiated margins and more investment in our capable, committed and top-performing partners."

The sweeping changes will be communicated to Australian partners over the coming weeks.

The new program represents "richer rewards", according to a blog post written by John Eldh, Symantec's vice president of Channel Sales, Americas, off the back of the vendor's Vision conference in Las Vegas earlier this month.

For instance, partners who achieve Principal- or Expert-level Competency and who first identify, develop and close incremental sales can increase earning potential by as much as 20 percent through Symantec’s Opportunity Registration Program, he wrote.

"The new Growth Accelerator Rebate, available to partners who invest in achieving Expert Competencies, offers partners the potential to earn up to an 8 percent rebate by reaching and exceeding new business revenue targets," according to Eldh.

There's also a new 2 percent rebate on renewals and development funds worth up to 5 percent.