 The Cube at EMC World 2014 is brought to you by EMC. Redefine VCE. Innovating the world's first converged infrastructure solution for private cloud computing. Brocade. Say goodbye to the status quo and hello to Brocade. Welcome back to Las Vegas. This is Dave Vellante with Stu Miniman. Fred Kahoot is here. The always interesting Fred Kahoot. He's vice president of global partner marketing at EMC. Fred, great to see you on the Cube. Thank you. Thanks for having me back. So you're welcome. So another EMC world, it just keeps getting bigger and better. And a big part of EMC world is the partner program. We were talking off camera last year. I hosted a panel at the partner program and it's big room, a lot of partners, a lot of action. People want to do business. People want to do business with EMC. You guys are very supportive from a partner standpoint. But so why don't we start with the partner program? What's it all about? What are the objectives and what's new? So as of this year, everything is new. That's what we announced just yesterday at the start of the Global Partner Summit. So we have rolled out a brand new partner program. It's called the EMC Business Partner Program. It goes live in January of 2015. So we're letting all of our partners know this week what's changed, how the partner program is architected differently, right? So they have time to skill up, get oriented and get ready to go next year. So we have completely retooled this program from the bottom up. So what has changed? You know, we haven't done this kind of re-architecture for more than a decade around the program. And that tends to lead to the question like, well, why now, right? And I think the why now is everything you've been hearing from the other EMC leadership is that with that transformation underway in the industry today, we have got to re-architect how we engage with partners. So this program is built around three core principles. Flexibility and choice, solutions and services, and that notion of embracing so that they can drive with us the transformation underway in the platform, that second to third platform, right? And we have really thought about it about the fact that we need to have an ecosystem of partners that can work across all aspects of the industry. That's number one. So we're out to build an ecosystem of partners. Number two is partner business models are changing. You know, that notion of a VAR was in a really tight swim lane and a system integrator was in a really tight swim lane and never should the two meet, right? Those lines are gone. And you have partners that are in multiple business models today. And as a result, you've got to architect a program that provides that degree of flexibility so they can make a choice on where they want to go and how they want to invest. So Fred, if I think about the last 10 years, we didn't converge infrastructure 10 years ago. I mean, I think about like blade servers or about that old, but V specs and V block, EMC's now utilizing the V cloud hybrid service. And as you said, service providers are much bigger piece. So can you unpack for us a little bit, you know, how some of these technology changes and some of the offerings from EMC helped influence your new business partner program? That is a great question. So I would come at it in a couple angles. First of all, we, about three years ago, we started to carve out parts of the product line that were partner owned. So we started to do a segmentation by product or by technology, which led us to V specs, by the way, which the partner community had come to us and said, hey, we want you to do this. Can you help us with this? We not only did it, we made it partner only and that product line has taken off like a rocket. So that's one aspect where we've taken parts of the product line and carved them out for partners and that's influenced how we work with partners. The other aspect is with the consumption models changing around cloud and cloud services, the engagement with a cloud service provider needs to be more about the go to market with them, not necessarily the transactional handshake that you have with a var or a distribution oriented partner. And so that is where we're really focused with cloud service providers. And then if you look at outsourcers or system integrators, the angle here is solutions and building solutions with them. So you ask how are technology changing our engagement? Well, we start at the product level, right? Then we go to the consumption level and now we're talking about solutions. And so all of those things together, we had to comprehend how we build that into a go to market motion with our partners. So Fred, can we unpack these core principles to get flexibility and choice, solutions and services and enabling transformation? That's right. So let's start with flexibility and choice. What does that mean and what are you looking for over there from partners? Super simple. The notion here is if you invest broadly with EMC, if you're in multiple partner types or multiple business models, if you're a var and a cloud service provider and a system integrator, how do we make that engagement more rewarding for you? How do we make it easier for you? So first principle, pick the track that you'd like. That's number one. We're not going to handcuff you. We're not going to make you go into one track versus another. Pick the tracks that work for you. Once you do that, if you go broad in your investment, up and through, including RSA Secure World, then we're going to make it more beneficial for you. So we've done things like we now let you share your marketing funds across different tracks. We now let you get credit for training, taking in one track for a certification in another track. So we're taking our first steps toward flexibility and choice in that respect. Okay, so the quid pro quo is if you want to swim in multiple lanes, that's cool with us, but you got to have a broad portfolio perspective, right? Is that fair? That's right, that's right. And you mentioned RSA. Is it the services and products that you're providing cut across the federation? So let's go up that federation stack. So we talked about broad. RSA has a partner program. There'll be partners that are resellers in RSA, right? Now let's go up the stack and talk about the federation. So we've applied the same principle there. If you're a partner and you're in EMC's partner program and VMware's partner program and in the RSA program, well, the first thing we're going to do is those EVP solutions that we build, we're going to expose those or give you access to those on a selective basis, okay? Okay. And based on that, we're then going to offer you richer rewards or richer financial benefits when you take those solutions to market. And oh, by the way, if you're a VMware premiere partner, it counts toward a certification in the EMC Platinum tier. So we've built the links and sort of benefits up the stack into the federation. So that federation obviously is a new component. You really didn't have that to worry about in the last decade. Didn't have it before. Okay, now let's talk about solutions and services. What is that all about? So previously our engagement with partners was totally around products. So our tiers and the reseller program, we're all about competencies around different types of products. All of that is gone. And it's now going to be built around solutions. So entry level tier has 15 different foundational technology tracks. The next level up, gold, is all about solutions and solutions selling and solution enablement. We're going to take all of the EMC architect solutions that Bill Rafferty's team is building. They're going to be embedded in that program. And then a layer up from there on the Platinum tier, it's all the EVP or federation solutions. Okay, and that sort of plays into the third one, embracing transformation. You don't want to be out just working with box sellers, right? You're transforming into solutions and so embracing transformation. I infer from that, you're looking for people that are of like mind, they want to get people into what you guys call the third platform, but talk a little bit more about what embracing transformation is all about. You know, that's a great point and there are a few other dimensions to look at too. So look, in this context of second and third platform, there are partners that are already leaders in the third platform. It depends upon their business model, cloud service providers, right? But the rub is, how do you get the ecosystem of partners to have a fluid relationship across those two marketplaces? And so we're doing things like the CloudConnect program. So a service provider that is building a business based on EMC infrastructure can now work with our reseller community to expand their scale and reach out to the marketplace. We make it beneficial for them. We make it beneficial for the reseller who may not want to invest to become a cloud service provider to now refer or resell those cloud service provider offerings. In fact, we allow the reseller to retire their quota based on what they resell of the cloud service provider's offerings. So we're really trying to make this a more fluid engagement. Yeah, so Fred, you know, I wonder if then you're going to build a cloud catalog. When you think about Amazon, they've got the Amazon marketplace, which is quite well to be able to allow not only as Amazon ad services, but all of their partners do that. How does EMC do something like that? Did you look at our strategy book? Actually, you're headed in absolutely the right direction. I think it's going to take us a while to get there. So step one is just get everybody under a common framework, under a common sort of brand, and go to market motion, recognize their differences, get this flexibility and choice in the end. Yeah, we should have that catalog of services out there. What's the feedback then from the partners this week? So, you know, we've had a number of one-on-one engagements. We're not done yet. We have more to go. In fact, starting shortly, we have our theater breakouts. There'll be some more feedback on those. And then we have a deep dive on the partner program later this afternoon. But so far in our one-on-ones, the partners are loving the flexibility and choice. They're loving the orientation towards services and solutions based on, they see the idea, they see the notion rather of a richer engagement in the marketplace. They love the predictability on the resale side. So today, they start earning from dollar one. It's an all-in goal, meaning if you sell a solution with EMC product software and services, we'll retire your goal against that. So feedback so far, you guys have nailed it. So can I, if I'm a partner, can I white label your services? Yes, okay. The answer is yes. And not only that, we are going to, for the first time ever, because as you talk about going up that stack and you get into those EVP oriented or more complex solutions, we are going to start making available to our partners the tools, methodologies, and consulting services that we have not previously. This will be the first time ever. And if I want to use my own services as a partner, how do you ensure consistency across the globe? So there are ways we're going to do that through number one. Partners can obviously engage and sell their services today, right? As we go through these new offerings that we're going to have, we'll have them get enabled and skilled up on that and certified. And that'll drive a level of consistency back into what they do as well. Fred, there's been a lot of change in the channel, we've gotten to dig in with some of your business partners. Some companies like Ingramico, who traditionally was a distributor and now some real value added services, Avnet, who builds things. The service providers, of course, are a brand new channel in many ways for what they are. You know, when you look forward as the kind of this changing landscape, you know, what have you learned? What can you share as to how you think, you know, where do the channel guys, you know, make their money and make their businesses and add value to the ecosystem going forward? So there are a couple of things that strike me. Number one is that notion of those business models, the lines between them changing. Partners today have got to be flexible enough to play in multiple spots. That's my take number one. Take number two is it's all about the selling motion, right? You're either going to sell with, sell through or sell out. And what you want from a relationship with your vendor is someone who can comprehend that and architect to go to market with you. I think where they're going to head in the future in terms of making money is all about solutions and services-led engagements. Fred, thanks a lot for coming to theCUBE. We'll give you the last word. So what's the bumper sticker at EMC World? The truck's pulling away, you know, from Las Vegas. What's the, what's the, from a, from a BPP perspective? A business partner program perspective. What's the bumper sticker say? Simple, predictable, and profitable. Awesome. Had the profits, right? It's all about at the end of the day. The partners want to make money. That's right. All right Fred, thanks very much for coming to theCUBE. It was great. Good luck with the program and you guys have really transformed the way in which you partner. You know, EMC has not always been perceived as a partner-friendly company over the last five to seven years. You guys have really put a lot of emphasis and investment in that. I think I'm a leader in that business. We'd like to think with this new release. All right, well thanks again and keep right there, everybody. We'll be right back with our next guest. This is theCUBE. We're live from Las Vegas, EMC World 2014. We'll be right back.