At Citrix Field Kickoff 2021, we announced a vision and framework for the evolution and growth of our partner ecosystem engagement and strategy. This is the first blog post in a series we will be doing each month during 2021. In today’s installment, we want to communicate the “how” and “why” of Citrix Partner Success and give you a little preview of what we have planned.
The year 2020 will forever be synonymous with COVID-19 and the lockdown. It will also be the year where a decade’s worth of digital and work transformation happened in a single year. Citrix partners were instrumental in helping hundreds of thousands of customers and millions of users to work remote safely and efficiently.
But 2020 also exposed areas where we could improve. All our respective systems were taxed. In analyzing the case for change, we landed on these core, overwhelming business needs:
- The Cloud — While we have all been talking about cloud computing for more than a decade, 2020 was the year cloud computing became ubiquitous. Moving forward, customers will be looking for more and more ways to be effective and efficient leveraging hyperscaler cloud computing — but also looking for more agile models around consumption and usage.
- Lots of Programs but No Unifying Program — While inventorying our various programs and offers for partners, we realized we had north of 23 different ways for a partner to engage with Citrix on a partner program, but no single set of branding, tooling, tracking, and support that federated your entire partner experience. In looking at this and listening to you, we realized we can merge, unify, consolidate, and simplify around five core customer business outcomes that would encompass all of the elements in the 23-plus programs under an umbrella partnering program — Citrix Partner Success.
- Business Models Converge — Our industry has changed a lot in 30 years, but some of our core approaches to partner taxonomy and segmentations haven’t always matched that change. A value-added reseller (VAR) no longer just resells. They might host, provide a managed service, or build custom applications or productized services offerings. A systems integrator no longer just does fee for services for time and materials project but may also resell, host, manage, build applications, or fully manage outsourced IT. I could go on.
- Customers Expect More — Let’s be honest, a lot more. They want fewer vendor relationships. They want more “solutions” focus. They aren’t always interested in discreet purchasing but are more focused on “business outcomes” delivery and focus.
In looking at our strategic goals for 2021 and beyond, it became clear that the timing is perfect to make a generational shift in our programs approach and to federate under a single umbrella partner program and strategic framework using the Citrix Partner Success banner.
As I mentioned at Kickoff, Citrix Partner Success will be more of a framework and a strategy than a single, monolithic change. Our intention is to make it highly iterative and minimally disruptive to your day-to-day selling and customer-focused activities.
What’s Next?
In our next installment, we will continue previewing what we have planned for Citrix Partner Success and show you how to ensure your voice is heard as we design for the future together!
Thank you for your partnership! If you have feedback or questions, please drop them in the comments below.
