Intelligent Tech Channels Issue 08 | Page 8

NEWS Salesforce announces new $50 million SI Trailblazer Fund from Salesforce Ventures Salesforce, a global leader in CRM, has announced a new $50 million fund from Salesforce Ventures, the company’s corporate investment group. The new SI (system integrator) Trailblazer Fund will be dedicated to the next-generation of cloud consulting firms, enabling them to accelerate their growth and drive greater customer success. In conjunction with the fund, Salesforce is also launching a new SI Trailblazer Alliance Initiative to provide portfolio companies with resources and training to build out their service capabilities for the future. The new $50 million SI Trailblazer Fund will provide John Somorjai, EVP of Corporate Development and Salesforce Ventures, Salesforce. Image: Eric Millette. the next generation of cloud consulting companies with the capital required to build and scale assistance in developing Salesforce solutions their Salesforce services capabilities for (including Fullforce and Lightning Bolt), the future, and empower customers to portfolio companies are empowered to transform their businesses with Salesforce. deliver successful implementations, creating Launching in parallel with the SI thriving businesses. Trailblazer Fund is the new SI Trailblazer “Consulting firms play a pivotal role in Alliance Initiative, which will provide SI the Salesforce ecosystem, implementing Trailblazer portfolio companies with access Salesforce solutions that meet the needs to a wide-range of concierge resources, of customers of all sizes, industries and training and tools including: geographies,” said John Somorjai, EVP of Accelerated onboarding experience: Corporate Development and Salesforce With guided interactive training through Ventures, Salesforce. “This new fund will Trailhead, priority access to boot camps foster the next-generation of SIs and and workshops and a Partner Onboarding supercharge the growth of the Specialist, consulting partners can join the Salesforce ecosystem.” Salesforce Partner Programme and get “Growing customer demand for ramped up quickly. Salesforce has created a critical need for Marketing and sales mentorship: more Salesforce-trained consulting partners Portfolio consulting companies can learn as part of the thriving ‘Salesforce Economy,’” marketing best practices with courses said Tyler Prince, EVP of Worldwide delivered by Salesforce experts; utilise a Alliances and Go-to-Market Innovation, Partner Marketing Specialist to build custom Salesforce. “The new SI Trailblazer Fund marketing plans; and access Marketing and SI Trailblazer Alliance Initiative will help Development Funds (MDF). fuel our consulting partner ecosystem and Implementation guidance: With empower the next generation of high- mentoring from tenured partners and growth cloud consultancies.” 8 Malwarebytes breaks the mould with EMEA channel programme Malwarebytes, an advanced malware prevention and remediation solution, has launched its inaugural channel programme for partners across EMEA. The programme has been designed to be simple and easy to join, and focuses on driving deal registrations with a commitment from Malwarebytes to help its partners close business opportunities quickly and easily. This – coupled with Malwarebytes’ strong pedigree in product development and the potential for partners to realise significant margins – is shaking up the traditional approach to partnering. Where traditional channel schemes reward – and penalise – partners based on revenue, Malwarebytes is incentivising its reseller and distributor network based on the exposure and opportunity reach they provide for the security company. Partners can attain gold and platinum levels based on numbers of deal registrations rather than revenue, certification programmes, or complex points-based programmes. Over the last few years, headline- grabbing online security incidents have escalated in both severity and regularity. The potential implications of a security breach are severe and can range from damaged business reputation through to company devaluation. As the average cost of a data breach increases, information security is now a board-level issue. As a result, there is a huge market opportunity for channel organisations. By providing support and positive incentives, Malwarebytes is offering the reseller community the tools they need to reap the benefits. Anthony O’Mara, EMEA Vice President, Malwarebytes said: “Vendors often make partners jump through far too many hoops, wanting arbitrary criteria to be met, often dictating to resellers how to run their business. . . . We want our channel to feel part of a mutually beneficial partnership where both parties are invested in driving growth together.” Register at www.malwarebytes.com/ partners/reseller_application/ ssue 08 NTELLIGENT TECH CHANNELS