Zebra's "PartnerConnect" Partner Program Launching Q2 2016
Zebra will launch “PartnerConnect” in Q2 2016. Since Zebra acquired Motorola Solutions’ Enterprise business last year, the company has been thoughtfully advancing the development of the newly named partner program.
Denise Hampton, senior director of global channel strategy, says the name resonated well with members of the channel. “It suggests connecting partners to Zebra, the partner community, and across a number of different dimensions,” she says. It also reflects Zebra’s enterprise asset intelligence (EAI) solutions, which bring cloud, mobility, and sensing technologies together in end-to-end solutions that provide valuable, actionable data from the connected world of the Internet of Things (IoT).
Hampton says feedback, especially from partners in Europe who felt a Q1 launch would be difficult to prepare for at year’s end, helped set the timing of the launch. “We opted to push out the launch of the program to Q2 to allow breathing room globally to operationalize in a productive way,” she says.
According to Hampton, listening to partner advice has been a tenet of Zebra’s team as they developed the new partner program: “Underpinning the entire process has been collaboration with partners and distributors.” That process began with what Hampton refers to as a “listening tour.” Zebra communicated with partners of the previous programs to learn what was working for them and what could be done better. The company formed a 90+ member partner advisory council and asked what their views were on channel programs and how they executed programs in the field. Zebra also surveyed 300+ other partners through the help of distributors. Zebra incorporated insights from these channel members to develop the new program.
At the Zebra Global Partner Summit in May, Hampton shared some of these insights: “Our channel partners fall into three separate categories — broad line resellers, business partners, and solution providers — and we realized it wouldn’t be fair to apply the same generic incentives across the board. While resellers respond well to rebate programs, business partners are motivated by deal registration, and solution providers will be incentivized based on the types of solutions they bundle and sell.”
Hampton adds that in addition to working with partners across the spectrum, Zebra has also developed specializations focused on niche technology product areas including wireless LAN, card printer products, supplies, RFID, and legacy Zebra print engines. “A partner could enter at a registered level and grow into a solution partner or a specialization,” Hampton comments, “You can participate as little or as much as fits your business.”
Other aspects of the program are “rules of engagement” that hold Zebra and partners accountable for the rules of the program, for example how to handle leads and co-selling. Hampton comments that feedback also revealed the need for training to keep partners informed: “We want to ensure the channel understands the business moving forward.” The PartnerConnect program will reflect this request from partners with training and educational resources.
Watch for details on the PartnerConnect program, to be released by Zebra.