Channel Choice: Vendor Of the Year -Symantec

Symantec has had a busy year. In April, at its partner conference in Senza, China, the vendor outlined a strategy that involved significant changes to its partner program. As yet, we still don’t know all the details of these changes.

They will be revealed in November. However, Symantec Pacific region director of enterprise channel, Jeff Arndt, said the vendor’s win of the Channel Choice Award for Best Vendor was reflective on its ability to effectively communicate with the partner networks as much as possible as the information is made available.

“It’s exciting to see that we will announce globally in the first week of November the enhanced partner program, but because of that time we’ve already given partners, we already have partners that have met the criteria,” Arndt said.

“As those benefits roll out in our new financial year those partners will be well placed to take advantage.”

Symantec has also made some significant investments in the mergers and acquisitions space in the past year, picking up VeriSign for a brisk $US1.28 billion.

And again, Arndt is convinced the vendor’s ability to communicate with its partners, and have them comfortable with changes or new technologies is the critical success story in Symantec’s enduring channel popularity.

“I think this award is symbolic of Symantec taking the time to make sure partners can take advantage of those changes,” Arndt said. “Some of the conversations I’ve been having with partners as well is that they appreciate we’ve given the partners a long time to digest those changes and make the appropriate investments so they can take advantage of those.”

And Symantec would love to win this award again. For Arndt, doing that is a relatively straightforward proposition – simply continue to engage with partners, make sure they’re happy with the investments they make in Symantec, and improve the experience of doing business with the vendors even further.

“For the next year we certainly have to keep our eye on the ball and make sure we stay focused on rolling out our new partnering program. But I think partners are comfortable that we’ve given the opportunity to make sure they’re recognised in previous investments,” he said. “I think our partners, with some of the value relationships we’ve had who have invested with Symantec over a period of time, have realised and understood what the new program means for them and are able to recognise their previous investment.”

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