NetApp® (NASDAQ: NTAP), a global cloud-led, data-centric software company, today announced updates to its award-winning Unified Partner Program for fiscal year 2022 (FY’22). The latest enhancements will provide partners with a more flexible, consistent and simplified experience – preparing them for the planned transition to a new tiering structure next year. The program is expanding the partner ecosystem, offering new financial incentives and accelerating profitability, and adding new solutions and Services Certified specializations.

“It’s an exciting time to be a NetApp partner,’’ said John Woodall, vice president, engineering at GDT, a longtime NetApp partner. “The new updates to the Unified Partner Program will make it easier to do business with NetApp. Together, by offering a simpler experience, more flexibility and clear areas for our joint investment, these changes will enable us to further differentiate based on our expertise and contributions. More importantly, it serves as a clear roadmap for our alignment with NetApp and the emerging roles of an OEM and their Partner community.”

Enhancements to the NetApp Unified Partner Program for FY’22, available immediately, include:

• Expanding Partner Ecosystem – The program will now include specialist partners who sell, consume or influence the NetApp portfolio – increasing relevance to more partner types.
• Simplified Incentives – Incentives are streamlined to align with key initiatives, and focus areas including customer acquisition, FlexPod, consumption, cloud and more. These incentives tied to new specializations become more predictable along the sales lifecycle.
• New Partner Rewards – Individual participants who opt in will be rewarded for actions that drive deal closure as part of strategic programs — such as setting meetings and registering deals.
• New Solution Specializations – An opportunity to recognize and reward partners’ unique skillsets and go-to-market models, new solution specializations will be available for Cloud Preferred, FlexPod, SAP, AI/ML, Data Protection, Data Security, Hosting Service Provider, Infrastructure, and Spot by NetApp Preferred.
• New Services Certified Specializations – The transformation of Services Certified Specializations include: Integration Services Certified, Lifecycle Services Certified, and NetApp Keystone Services Certified, ensuring alignment with customer needs across the hybrid cloud lifecycle.
• Partner Connect 2.0 – The NetApp partner locator is being redesigned for a better user experience to help customers find the most specialized partners to meet their needs.

“We are transforming our Unified Partner Program and evolving its structure to make doing business with NetApp simpler and more profitable for our partners than ever before,” said Chris Lamborn, Head of Global Partner GTM & Programs at NetApp. “The latest updates are just the start of a multi-phase strategy to incentivize and reward our partners for their solution expertise, while delivering greater value to their customers.”

More information on the NetApp Unified Partner Program’s latest updates is available online at: https://www.netapp.com/partners/resources/