EMC Intros Incentives For Iomega SMB Storage

EMC is offering enhanced benefits for solution providers selling EMC’s entry level NAS storage products to help partners boost profitability and increase penetration in the lucrative SMB space. Gregg Ambulos, vice president of North American channels for EMC, says solution providers selling EMC’s Iomega StorCentre ix2 and StorCentre Pro ix4 NAS systems will now receive revenue credits on those sales toward their Velocity2 revenue requirements along with a 5 percent rebate, paid quarterly.

EMC solution providers qualify for different tiers in the vendor’s Velocity2 partner program based on sales dollars, Ambulos says. However, in the past, sales of Iomega products did not count towards solution providers’ revenue targets, he says.

Now, Ambulos says, partner sales of Iomega StorCentre products not only count towards revenue targets, but also earn them a quarterly 5 percent rebate. Increased sales numbers can also propel partners more quickly through the vendor’s partners program to gain benefits only available to top-tier partners, he says.

The Iomega StorCentre ix2 NAS and the new StorCentre Pro ix4-100 NAS network storage appliances are aimed at small businesses, remote offices and work groups, providing networked storage that can easily integrate with existing infrastructure, says Ambulos.

The market for entry level storage solutions is crucial for EMC, which has traditionally played in the enterprise and the midmarket space. Ambulos says EMC will continue to introduce offerings in the SMB space in an effort to be a one-stop shop for storage-focused solution providers.

“We are looking into expanding further into the SMB space, as it represents a $5.7 billion storage, hardware, software and services opportunity for us,” Ambulos says.  By developing incentives around the Iomega products, Ambulos says he hopes to increase sales of the StorCentre ix2 and StorCentre Pro ix4 and increase EMC’s marketshare in the space.

“Partners are already selling this today; it’s a well known offering in the market,” Ambulos says. The financial incentives will help EMC solution providers become more profitable, and also encourage them to feature Iomega products more prominently, he says.

The program is effective immediately, and the revenue credits and rebate percentages are retroactive to 1 January, 2009, Ambulos says. The Iomega products are available through Iomega’s distribution partners, including Tech Data, Ingram Micro, Synnex and D&H Distribution.