I want to congratulate a very talented former colleague of mine from VeriSign, Armando Dacal, for winning this distinguished award and making the list for 2010. Coincidentally if you read CRN’s summary of Armando’s efforts below it confirms the information our first three blog posts contained. It appears that increased communication and formal planning between VeriSign and its’ Partners were the key ingredients for success.
Single Most Innovative Initiative In 2009:
The single most innovative initiative for which we are responsible for in 2009 is the Quarterly Business Review, which is a discussion centered on the growth of our partners.
Congratulations to Armando Dacal and the rest of his team!
Here is Channel Web’s Summary unedited:
Partner Organization’s Top 3 Accomplishments Over The Past Year:
1. We fully revamped our partner program for partners by changing the business model to address the needs and concerns of our partners. Our restructured program is now designed to allow our partners to invest more on driving sales while spending less on inventory. The new program makes it easy for any partner, irrespective of size, to start selling quickly. The better results our partners achieve, the more benefits they gain in the program.
2. Another accomplishment is the partner platform enhancements that we made. We have increased the ease of use of the partner platform by consolidating multiple platforms into one easy-to-navigate console.
3. Over the past year we have focused on ways in which we can help our partners better market to their segments and have done so by supplying them with various marketing resources, as well as hiring outbound marketing personnel to provide them dedicated assistance to further enhance their business objectives and goals.
How Has Partner Community Grown:
The largest growth that we have seen over the past year has been in the registrar and Web hosting space.
Single Most Innovative Initiative In 2009:
The single most innovative initiative for which we are responsible for in 2009 is the Quarterly Business Review, which is a discussion centered on the growth of our partners. Our partners are an important asset and we want to ensure that we are always listening to them, taking their feedback into account, and ultimately implementing their advice into our program. Take for instance the redesign of our partner platform; this was designed as a result of our partners’ insight, which was brought to light via the Quarterly Business Review.
Key Channel/Partner Investments Made Over The Past Year:
Technological investments-Consolidation of multiple platforms into one easy to use console.
Marketing investments-Providing increased marketing support dedicated to the partners and their business objectives.
Partner relationship investments-Spending quality time speaking with and listening to our partners needs and ensuring that their feedback is addressed and implemented into the program.
How Are You Attracting The Next Generation Of Solution Providers:
VeriSign participates and sponsors a number of world wide conferences on a regular basis, yielding high visibility; in conjunction with that we have a globally recognized brand which helps to drive demand for our partner organization. Also, we provide cloud based services which are a hot trend these days, and that too helps to attract the next generation of solution providers.
Greatest Challenge Overcome In The Past Year:
Ensuring organizational alignment and increased momentum around the channel as it relates to our changing business model has been a challenge that I have overcome this past year. With careful execution, unimpeded drive and the right motive, we have been able to successfully align the objectives of our partner organization.
