IBM has announced IBM Partner Plus to help facilitate and fuel growth for new and existing partners by growing their expertise and accelerating time-to-market.
The new program also seeks to engage with its business partners through unprecedented access to IBM resources, incentives, and tailored support to deepen their technical expertise.
The program targets new and existing partners, including resellers, hyperscalers, technology providers, independent software vendors and systems integrators, by putting them in control of their earning potential.
IBM Partner Plus is central to the company’s Hybrid Cloud and AI strategy and aims to empower partners to help clients automate, secure, and modernize their businesses.
By growing technical expertise and demonstrating sales success, participants can progress to three tiers – Silver, Gold, and Platinum – which unlock specialized financial, go-to-market support, and education benefits.
In the new program, badging will become the standardized measure of skills, and validated solutions will demonstrate expertise. The enhanced IBM Partner Portal consolidates and tracks all expertise, revenue, and deals globally, offering each partner a clear line-of-site into their progression through the program.
“IBM Partner Plus introduces a new way for IBM to deliver value to new and existing partners by helping them gain skills, grow faster and earn more,” said Kate Woolley, General Manager, IBM Ecosystem.
“We’ve heard from partners that they want a simplified experience that helps them win with clients. I’m confident these changes and our continued investment in our ecosystem will make IBM the partner of choice across the industry, and together we can drive growth for partners, clients, and IBM.”
IBM Partner Plus results from the company’s journey to put partners at the center of IBM’s go-to-market strategy and act as a growth engine to help capture the $1 trillion hybrid cloud and AI market opportunities.
IBM has invested in elevating the role of partners and accelerating partner-led sales by enabling the ecosystem to become a preferred route to market, offering clients an optimal mix of technology, services, and consulting expertise.
To drive continued growth, IBM will increase its capacity to support partners by doubling the number of partner-facing brand and technical specialists to help them prospect and win additional client business.
“The Partner Ecosystem is at the heart of IBM’s growth strategy, and the new IBM Partner Plus program is the next step in our mission to grow with partners, as together we co-create and help our clients in MEA to transform their business,” said Zaidoun Arbad, Vice President Partner Ecosystem IBM MEA.
Zaidoun added that the program demonstrates IBM’s investments in its partners’ ecosystem to motivate, support, and reward partners who invest with IBM.
The new product brings all partner types and programs together – whether they sell, build on, or with, and/or provide services for IBM technology – into one integrated ecosystem.
“The IBM Partner Plus is a great example of how IBM is enriching the role of partners, offering access to skills and opportunities that will help us win in the market and support clients better,” said Sami Abi Esber, President for MDS System Integration and Board Member at Midis Group.
