Pure Storage Beefs Up Partner Program

Flash storage array vendor Pure Storage on Tuesday beefed up its channel program, demonstrating that it has become what one of its solution providers termed a "more mature company" in its approach to the channel.

The enhancements to the Pure Storage P3 Partner Program comes just a month after the company hired Michael Sotnick as its first channel chief.

All told, the all-flash storage array vendor is showing a lot of maturity in its channel program, said John Woodall, vice president of engineering at Integrated Archive Systems (IAS), a Palo Alto, Calif.-based solution provider and Pure Storage channel partner.

[Related: Pure Storage Hires First Channel Chief, New 'Partner Success' VP]

"If you look at who Pure Storage is hiring and what it is doing, it is putting in place the perks of a more mature company," Woodall told CRN. "Good for them."

Woodall said all the additions to the Pure Storage P3 Partner Program are the kinds of activities solution providers expect of their vendor partners.

"They're finally dotting their i's and crossing their t's of what you expect," he said.

Sotnick, Pure Storage's new vice president of global channels and alliances, told CRN the new Pure Storage P3 Partner Program was updated in several ways, starting with a 400 percent increase in the pool of market development funds, or MDFs, available to partners.

Sotnick, while insisting Pure Storage is making a large contribution to the MDF pool, declined to be specific about how much the company is investing. "It's tied to our annual bookings," he said. "We're not a public company, and don't disclose our revenue."

Also new is Pure Storage's plans to provide funds to help partners at the company's platinum level in its program hire personnel devoted to sales of the vendor's solutions, Sotnick said.

"Such employees could be a shared or a dedicated resource, depending on the seniority of the resource," he said. "The focus will be on go-to-market activities. There's no complex configuration or customization required with our solutions."

Pure Storage is also introducing a "customer heroes" activity under which it works with partners to highlight their company wins, Sotnick said.

"Pure will fund white papers or case studies featuring customers and partners jointly highlighting the impact of adopting the Pure Storage solution," he said. "Partners can then use these as part of their go-to-market efforts."

Also new is the company's first demo program, which allows channel partners to purchase Pure Storage products at a steep discount if used in their labs to demonstrate solutions to potential clients, Sotnick said.

PUBLISHED MAY 19, 2015