Lucidworks Fusion platform to scale via channel partnerships
Lucidworks said it wants to engage with various channel partner types in a bid to grow its Lucidworks Fusion business; other channel news from the week.
By
Spencer Smith and John Moore
Published: 17 Aug 2018
Lucidworks, a vendor of search and discovery applications, has revealed a channel program designed to make partners central to its business growth.
The program, launched this week, offers channel staples such as deal registration, a partner portal, and training and certification. The program also features engagement models to support various channel partner types, including technology vendors, systems integrators, value-added resellers, managed services providers (MSPs) and SaaS providers, Lucidworks said.
"The design philosophy around this was to formalize the way that partners engage with us," said Simon Taylor, vice president of worldwide channels and alliances at Lucidworks, based in San Francisco. The vendor, which developed the Lucidworks Fusion platform, currently has about 60 to 80 core partners, he noted.
The company launched the program on the heels of a $50 million funding round and an alliance struck with storage vendor Commvault in June. Looking to expand, Lucidworks identified the channel as the means for transforming "our scale and growth as a company," Taylor said.
"What we decided to do ... is to really change the way the organization operates and make it as much as possible 100% channel-centric," he added.
The tracks for different channel partner types within the Lucidworks program are intended to develop the vendor's relationships "so that we could focus on partners that were meaningful to our business," he said.
What we decided to do ... is to really change the way the organization operates and make it as much as possible 100% channel-centric.
Simon Taylorvice president of worldwide channels and alliances, Lucidworks
The reseller program is structured with three partner tiers -- Authorized, Gold and Platinum -- with incremental requirements and benefits. Benefits include market development funds, qualified sales leads and technical assistance.
Other partner tracks within the program include the following:
an OEM and SaaS partner program, providing tools for embedding Lucidworks Fusion technology into solutions or using the Fusion software development kit and App Studio platforms to build apps and connectors.
a Certified Partner Consultant program for partners qualified to design and deploy offerings using the Lucidworks Fusion platform and applications, according to the vendor.
Taylor noted the company has invested significantly -- and will continue to invest -- in hiring channel management staff.
"It is a core part of our overall business plan: to embrace partners and grow this way," he said.
Informatica ramps up partner training
Informatica, an enterprise cloud data management vendor, plans to train thousands of partner employees over the next year, as it seeks digital transformation resources.
Richard Ganley, senior vice president of digital transformation solutions and global partners at Informatica, based in Redwood City, Calif., said the company aims to cultivate partners that can help its customers navigate digital transformation projects.
"As good as we think our technology is ... we really need partners to help us," he added, noting the complexity of transformative IT initiatives.
Informatica's training push includes a series of Elevate enablement events, which will conclude next week in Denver. The Denver event, scheduled for Aug. 20 to 23, follows training events held earlier this year in Copenhagen, Denmark, and Bangkok. The events include presales, sales and implementation tracks.
Over the course of the three events, Informatica will have trained some 750 people, Ganley estimated.
In another training effort, Informatica plans to send a training team to visit the campuses of eight of the largest systems integrators in India. Ganley said the company aims to train several thousand people over the course of the next year. Not all of the integrator personnel will be trained to the deepest level, but some will, he added.
Informatica's goal is to provide a "much bigger pool of trained resources in the market," he said.
"We are trying to train our partners on our technology on an industrial scale," Ganley said.
Accenture focuses on digital twin tech
Accenture's Industry X.0 practice, which focuses on the smart connected products market, is concentrating on digital twin technology.
Craig McNeil, managing director at Accenture and North American lead for Industry X.0, said digital twin is "one of the bigger areas of focus in our current fiscal year and definitely will be in the next fiscal year." Accenture's fiscal year begins Sept. 1.
A Digital twin is a virtual representation of a product that can be used in design and simulation.
In other news, Accenture has entered an alliance with Malong Technologies, an AI startup based in Shenzhen, China. Accenture also made a minority investment in the company. Malong and Accenture's Applied Intelligence practice will provide "computer vision and product recognition capabilities" to customers.
Other news
Cloudreach, a cloud services provider based in London, has inked a letter of intent to purchase Relus Cloud, an Amazon Web Services partner in Peachtree Corners, Ga. Relus Cloud, founded in 2013, is a Premier Consulting Partner in the AWS Partner Network, focusing on the North American market.
Qualys, a cloud-based security and compliance vendor, revealed it will release a version of its cloud platform for consultants, consulting firms and MSPs. Qualys Consulting Edition provides vulnerability assessments capabilities, as well as features such as customizable reporting and trending reports and dashboards, Qualys said. The vendor said Qualys Consulting Edition will be available by the end of this month.
Beachhead Solutions reported 72% year-over-year revenue growth for the first half of 2018 on the strength of managed service provider partnerships. The company said about 250 MSPs now work with the company, which provides cloud-managed PC and mobile device encryption, security and data access control offerings.
OPAQ, a network security cloud vendor, is teaming with Palo Alto Networks' MSSP Partner Program in an alliance that lets MSPs and managed security services providers deliver Palo Alto's security-as-a-service offering to midsize companies.
Cask LLC has joined Unified Compliance's partner network as a value-added reseller.
ERGOS, an MSP based in Houston, has tapped Liongard's Roar platform, which automates system discovery and documentation.
Market Share is a news roundup published every Friday.
