EDITOR’S QUESTION
Specialisation through
accreditation
In order to nurture its relationships with existing and forthcoming partners, Xerox has been gradually
rolling out Xerox Partner Plus Program for the Developing Markets region since the beginning of 2016,
says Pui-Chi Li, Head of Marketing, Xerox Middle East and Africa.
A
s a global
corporation
that sells
document solutions
and services, and
document technology
products, give us an
overview of the market
opportunities and
partner programme
for regional channel
partners.
T
he global SMB managed print
services market is expected to grow
to $8 billion by 2018 – with more
than 75 per cent of that spend coming
through indirect channels – representing
a significant opportunity for services-
oriented channel partners to capture. We
recognise that a vast amount of growth
is attributed to developing markets;
therefore, we are focusing on expanding
our partner network in the Middle East
region.
In order to nurture our relationships
with existing and forthcoming partners,
Xerox has been gradually rolling out Xerox
Partner Plus Program for the Developing
Markets region since the beginning of
2016.
The Xerox Partner Plus Program is a
competency-based programme focused
on developing people skills as a basis
for capturing new market opportunities.
Available to second-tier resellers and service
providers in emerging markets, it offers a
defined set of training, certifications and
learning paths to enable sales reps and
technicians with the skills they need to
sell and support products, solutions and
services in the marketplace today.
This programme is designed to help
channel partners take advantage of
current and future market opportunities
by focusing on employee development and
training. Identified training and learning
paths for our partners’ sales people,
analysts and technicians will lead to a
highly skilled workforce to better meet
the needs of current and future customer
demands. Partners benefit from a highly
skilled and trained workforce that allows
them to sell solutions and services in new
market segments.
The programme embraces both our
second-tier sales as well as our service
(ASP) partners. There are three partner
tiers: Office Solutions Partner, Specialist
and Expert. Each tier has certain
requirements, which revolve around
specialisation through accreditation. With
each level, the benefits also increase. For
our ASP partners, there are three tiers:
Authorized Service Provider, followed by
Authorized Service Provider – Advanced
and Authorized Service Provider –
Premier. Partner organisations can become
accredited in each specialisation, as long
as they meet the criteria. Accreditation is
reviewed annually.
In return, the partner will receive extra
benefits from Xerox, including badging
that can be used to advertise this level of
competency to the marketplace and an
assigned Xerox Partner Manager. The
accreditation process involves certification,
which refers to recognising sales, analysts
and service employees for their skills to
a level where they have the competencies
to sell, support and service products and
solutions in the marketplace today.
Customers today are more informed
than ever before and their demands for
solutions and services are becoming more
and more complex, making it critical for
partners to have a highly skilled workforce
to understand their business needs. The
certification process is a key enabler for
partners and our partners’ customers to
help differentiate their business and gain a
competitive advantage.
Partners will benefit from access to
our production or MPS offering, as well
as the tools and benefits of our Partner
Portal. Part of the programme will also
mean our partners can leverage the Xerox
brand, which includes partner badges that
indicate their level of specialisation to the
end user.
Pui-Chi Li, Head of Marketing, Xerox Middle
East and Africa.
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