Citrix to re-jig distributor funding

Citrix (NASDAQ: CTXS) has revealed it is to shake up its distributor incentive programme to provide a consistent service across all geographies.

Speaking to Channel Pro at the vendor’s annual partner event, Citrix Summit, channel chief Kimberly Martin said the company is lacking “a consistent global programme”.

She explained: “It’s important we have a worldwide distribution strategy as we have a worldwide distribution partners, and we’re handling them dramatically differently between our geos today.”

Although there are no firm details yet on the changes, Martin says Citrix’s distributor channel in EMEA “needs to focus a little bit less on the operational component and more on where there business is moving, which is around training and development of our silver partners.”

Martin added she had received feedback from distributors that claimed the current system did little to help them with smaller deals.

“They said: ‘You pay me X percent on $1m deals and I don’t touch that deal…At the same time if I do a deal with a silver partner that I’ve spent time developing and building training for, and enabling and sending people out to understand the Citrix solution set – I get paid the same percentage but it’s a much smaller deal size. I’d rather pay more for the silvers and less for the $1m deal.’”

A priority, says the channel exec, is hiring a new worldwide distribution lead before implementing any changes.

Jason Tooley, Citrix country manager UK and Ireland, says he expects the new approach will be “positively received” by Citrix UK disties Tech Data and Arrow ECS.

“As a supplier we’re looking to create more revenue for distribution that they can reinvest back into the business. That reinvestment means building better skills that they can then enable our partners to drive more capability,” he told Channel Pro. “They’ve been asking us about this over the last six to nine months, and they’ll see this as a positive way forward.”

He added: “We rely heavily on distribution in many different areas, not just in our smaller partners. We expect distribution to have a key role with our managed partners as well. We need distribution to carry a heavy load and the more revenue and investment, we create the better the results will be.”

See also:

Distributors: what do they really bring to the table?

Citrix unveils back to basics strategy

Citrix announces midmarket push