Nick Christodoulou, EMC

EMC South Africa has unveiled a new channel partner programme aimed at presales, called EMC Presales Elite (EPE).

Of the 78 people EMC considered for the programme, 39 were selected. “It’s called EMC presales elite and that’s exactly what it is – elite,” says Nick Christodoulou, channel manager for EMC Southern Africa. The programme’s aim is to extend EMC’s knowledge and capabilities to its presales partners. The programme is offered on four tiers: bronze, silver, gold and platinum. To advance, members must attend EMC events, and dedicate a certain amount of time to EMC products, among other things. Benefits increase proportionally, and include access to resources like confidential roadmaps, as well as inviteonly launches and exclusive events.

According to Servaas Venter, acting country manager for EMC Southern Africa, the channel is very significant and top-of-mind for EMC at the moment.

Christodoulou says: “At EMC, it has been a year of transformation. Internally, we’ve been calling it the year of channel.”

He says the channel contribution has grown significantly over the past few years. The company has segmented its portfolio into direct and indirect sales, and this segmentation, “has effectively taken our channel contribution from 45% to 77%. So, 77% of our revenue goes through the partner community today.”

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