The notion of broadening horizons is typically a personal realm, but companies do it too. In this case, EMC with Wednesday's announcement of VMAXe.
The VMAXe is a new step for EMC and the Enterprise Storage Division that will help facilitate profitable partner business. It builds upon VCE/Vblock innovations and a revamped Velocity program intended to help partners broaden their business and get ready for the cloud.
First, a bit of history: Symmetrix as an EMC brand and flagship product is central to EMC's soul - if companies have a soul. When I joined EMC in 2000, Data General had only just been acquired and the prevailing focus and energy of our sales was Symmetrix. The answer to every opportunity - if the opportunity were indeed worthy of pursuit - was Symm. But that began to change.
Storage Area Networks were just becoming widespread and DG with SAN experience and their CLARiiON storage array was a perfect fit. Volume began to grow through direct sales accounts but take off through the channel. Then, signing Dell in 2001 gave partner sales a rocket boost. A few hundred million became a billion and that certainly got everyone's attention.
As sales through partnerships of all types continued to expand, there was particularly robust success for channel reseller partners selling CLARiiON - more recently VNX. Healthy additions along the way included backup (BRS), security (RSA), document management (IIG) and the beat continues.
Still, big, expensive and complex, Symmetrix remained primarily in the realm of direct with a relatively small number of capable / qualified partner resellers.
That's where broadening horizons comes in.
Velocity, VCE, VMAXe, and Cloud
First, Velocity. January's revamped Velocity partner program features multiple specialties. Think of these as focus areas for sophisticated technology and business offerings. One of these is "Advanced Consolidation" - read Symmetrix and enterprise offerings.
Velocity specialties are the foundation for partners wanting to build deep technical skills and confidence in pursuit of enterprise business. They get comprehensive training, tools and enhanced financial incentives and, in this specialty, are supported in selling Symmetrix and delivering all the related services. Add in lots of opportunities for infrastructure migration, virtualization, cloud enablement, application upgrades and more.
EMC expands its footprint. Partners enhance their bottom line.
Now, couple Velocity for Symm with VCE - the Virtual Computing Environment company that converges cloud infrastructure from Cisco, VMware and EMC in a Vblock. VCE certified partners already have the expertise in storage, networking and virtual environments. Adding VCE to the list for a certified Symmetrix reseller positions them to offer industry leading cloud infrastructure. Because the technology involved crosses company boundaries, this is a perfect business opportunity for partners to play a uniquely competitive role in advancing the cloud journey for their customers.
Enter VMAXe.
"VMAXe is EMC’s new entry-level into the Symmetrix family. Symmetrix VMAXe was developed for customers who require a storage solution with enterprise reliability, availability, and serviceability and a scale-out, multi-controller architecture within a tight IT budget. Symmetrix VMAXe further complements EMC’s existing storage portfolio and creates a new lower entry point for customers looking to move into the Symmetrix family."
Wednesday's press release, noted that VMAXe is:
"Now Available Worldwide: EMC is making high end storage capabilities available through more channels around the world than ever before. The Symmetrix VMAXe can be purchased from EMC Velocity Channel partners or direct from EMC immediately.
This product is designed to fill a gap between the top end of EMC VNX and the entry point to Symmetrix VMAX.
Yes we have noticed some of our competitors exploiting that gap.
VMAXe is also designed to be channel friendly - customer friendly too. It's easier to order (comes pre-configured), easier to install (we assert less than four hours, but we've already seen installations in less than two), easier to operate (virtual provisioning). Also easier on the budget.
Symm resellers who have been certified on VMAX are automatically eligible to sell VMAXe after a bit of on-line differences training. A nice addition to the portfolio and the competitive arsenal as well.
So what?
As with any good company looking out for its shareholders, EMC is looking to secure more business in more markets and in more market segments. VMAXe is designed to help make that happen. A central theme running through it is that we have indeed expanded our Horizons and reseller partners are very much a part of that expansion.
We already have a good number of partners certified or well on their way. Always room for one more.
Lots of details and info and blog perspectives through the links below.
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