Verkada, a manufacturer of cloud-based building security and operating systems, is launching a new Partner Program with four membership levels: Diamond, Platinum, Gold and Silver.
Diamond, Platinum and Gold program members are Authorized Verkada partners that participate in program benefits and can promote themselves as Authorized partners. The Silver membership level is the registration point for partners who have gone through a partner approval process but have not yet qualified to earn benefits from the program.
With approximately 20,000 end customers, Verkada states it has continued to evolve its partner ecosystem. In the past year, the company’s global partner community has grown by 40 percent — now totaling more than 6,500 partners — and the team that supports the company’s partners has grown by 50 percent.
“We’re making a comprehensive update to our Partner Program, designed to ensure our shared customers receive consistently high technical service levels across the globe and enable our partners to continue to grow a profitable business around Verkada,” stated Caleb Augustin, head of channel sales, Verkada.
He added, “Our new Partner Program marks an important step forward as we continue to operate as a partner-first organization and support our partners in delivering category-defining products to our shared customers.”
Technical Services Network
Verkada said it has many national and global customers for whom obtaining consistently high levels of service throughout the globe can be challenging. Few channel partners have staff that can cover every region or country and therefore at times find it necessary to subcontract work.
To meet this need, Verkada created the new Premier Services designation. The designation is reserved for partners who exhibit: exceptional design, installation and services capabilities across the company’s product lines; have a significant number of technical certifications through Verkada programs; and who may act as either a primary or subcontractor depending on the project.
Premier Services partners are also subject to a rigorous internal review process and are offered in-person training courses on the technical nuances of Verkada products. The Premier Services designation is being made visible to Verkada customers and other partners in a searchable database. Partners of any membership level can achieve the designation.
Investing in Partner Training
The company said it is further investing in training courses to support the growth of its channel partners. This includes:
- Expanding the Verkada Certified Engineer (VCE) Program. VCE offers partners the opportunity to take rigorous, in-person training courses that will help them become technical experts in Verkada product lines — ultimately, helping them better architect and implement Verkada’s security and building solutions. VCE covers several product lines and associated certifications, including Verkada Essentials, Access Control Specialist and, most recently, Alarms Specialist.
- Building a new sales training program, Verkada Sales Professional (VSP). VSP will help train partner sales representatives to support their sales and demo capabilities for Verkada. The VSP pilot program will launch alongside the new Partner Program on Feb. 1, 2024.