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Nutanix launches ‘Elevate’ distribution program in A/NZ

Gives distributors their own tiers and claims to help partners identify the right distributor to work with.

Nutanix has launched a new partner program targeted specifically at distributors in an effort to help partners achieve more “scale”. 

Named Elevate, the program divides distributors into Professional and Champion tier status and claims to provide more “cutting-edge resources” for distributors. 

Using Elevate, partners can use the Nutanix Partner Portal to select a distributor based on specific criteria they prioritise, from resources to operational capabilities. 

Distributors who rise through the tier rankings will get access to programs, Nutanix executives, market coverage and early access to product information.  

“As for partners, the new program will benefit by helping identify distributors best suited to support growth in their specific Nutanix business strategy,” said David Gage, director of channels for Australia and New Zealand.  

“We are also ensuring they are transacting as quickly and as friction-free as possible,” he added. 

The launch comes a year after Gage first took over the A/NZ channel and two months after it launched a partner program dedicated entirely to service providers, also called Elevate. 

It also follows the consolidation of Nutanix’s distribution in A/NZ, which saw Tech Data and Arrow dropped from the line-up while adding Ingram Micro and refining its existing relationship with Dicker Data. 

“The dual distributor model we recently announced in Australia and New Zealand is a maturation of our partner program, locally, and our current distribution partners align best to our market coverage and partner-requested criteria,” Gage said of the consolidation. “It matches our growth and sets us and our partners up for further growth in the future.” 

Gage also spoke of his plans for the A/NZ channel as the hyperconverged infrastructure vendor attempts to boost subscription and consumption-based pricing models among partners.  

“For Nutanix, this means shifting to a partner profit continuum that starts with the initial customer purchase, expanding acquisition of new technology, adopting the technology to maximise investment and then a simple experience when renewing their licenses,” he said. 

“We’re focusing on being the easiest vendor to do business with by investing in the simplification and automation of our processes to allow partners to transact faster and enabling partners to differentiate through a platform that helps them to build not only traditional deployment services but also develop new unique practices.” 

This means expanding partner skillsets in data centre architecture, including across artificial intelligence, low-code/no-code approaches to application development “and more of those applications starting in the cloud rather than moving there”. 

Speaking about Nutanix’s plans for the A/NZ channel during a “challenging year” that saw around 20 local staff members retrenched, Gage added: “We were on the front foot early in the pandemic, easing the burden on our partners by offering extended payment terms and a number of other relief measures as part of the Nutanix Special Financial Assistance Program.  

“Other ways we’ve supported our community throughout this challenging time have included making our certification exams free for partners and offering free trials of our desktop-as-a-service solution for both partners and customers.”