EMC Launches New Velocity2 Partner Program for Europe, Middle East, & Africa to Help Deliver Information Infrastructure Solutions More Cost-Effectively


BRENTFORD, England, July 2 / / --

- Partners Embrace Velocity2 Partner Program Enhancements as First Five EMC Velocity2 Signature Solution Centers Announced Across EMEA

EMC Corporation, the world leader in information infrastructure, today announced the launch of its enhanced EMC Velocity2 Partner Program for Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) to help EMC partners more cost-effectively deliver information infrastructure solutions (hardware, software and services) to customers and drive higher profitability. The Velocity2 Program enhancements strengthen EMC's commitment to the partner community at every level -- making it easier for more Affiliate partners to offer EMC's full range of products and providing the tools to Premier and Signature Solution partners to help them better differentiate their value to customers.

EMC today also announced that five EMC Velocity2 Signature Solution Center Partners (SCPs) across EMEA including ARES in France, Computacenter in the UK, IPM in Spain, PROACT in Sweden and S&T in Slovenia, have endorsed the newly enhanced Velocity2 Partner Program by becoming partners in the highest tier of the program. Partners will have the opportunity to become SCPs by meeting a set of criteria which include their expertise in offering and supporting EMC-based solutions, their commitment to invest in and operate a Solution Center and their Sales- and pre-Sales technical skills for EMC-Hardware, -software and -services." Each Velocity2 Signature Solution Center Partner has a dedicated EMC Solution Center in their region to showcase EMC solutions for consolidation, backup, archiving and protection and is a member of the EMC Authorized Services Network (ASN). ASN certification allows Velocity2 Signature Solution Center Partners to deliver a range of information infrastructure services, including consulting, integration, and support to own the entire customer relationship lifecycle from support to implementation to management of their EMC solution.

Based on the success of EMC's own Global Solution Centers, Velocity2 Signature Solution Centers enable partners to deliver the best possible sales experience for customers by offering them a real life view at a specific solution to highlight the benefits associated with the solution and the speed implementation. Each solution center has the capabilities to replicate customer environments, tailor specific application solution demonstrations, and conduct solutions training for customers. Depending on a partner's application expertise, Microsoft(R), SAP (R), Oracle (R), and Cisco (R), they can choose which EMC application-centric solutions to demonstrate in their solution Center. EMC solutions are backed by stringent testing, seamless partner integration and documented implementation methodologies to reduce complexity and customer risk to ensure fast deployment.

Willem Hendrickx, EMEA Vice President, Channel and Mid-market at EMC said, "Today's announcement highlights our continued commitment to partners across EMEA. EMC believes that the enhanced program will provide the partners with tools to improve margins/profitability." Hendrickx continued, "I'm delighted that the five partners have embraced the concept so quickly, and our ultimate goal is to have an EMC Velocity2 Signature Solution Center in every region in EMEA."

"ARES is a highly invested partner with EMC, as with Microsoft, Cisco and Oracle," recalls Michel Berjamin, CEO of ARES Group. "We are now extremely well-positioned to serve the requirements of the companies that need to leverage their investments maximizing the use of their acquired technologies.

The announced opening of our two Solution Centers supports our engagement towards EMC and will drive new opportunities to set live demos of the products and solutions, as well as of our expertise."

"Our Customers demand best-of-breed technologies that are integrated and well-supported, Computacenter and EMC have consistently demonstrated information infrastructure solutions that meet these needs. The launch of the EMC Signature Solution Centre within Computacenter is a valuable tool which allows us to understand our customers needs and demonstrate exactly how the solution is going work in their environment," said Mike Norris, CEO, Computacenter.

"IPM specializes in providing integrated solutions to our customers. They can now visit our dedicated EMC Velocity2 Signature Solution Center and see the application solution working on the server and storage combination that they are looking at purchasing," said Ramon Molinas, IPM CEO.

"Our customers trust Proact and we offer them solutions and services that create value and reduces risk. The solution center concept is a great way of providing solutions that is guaranteed to be a success," Olof Sand, CEO Proact, Stockholm.

"We are giving our customers real choice and the best of both worlds -- the chance to see how the solution would work for them based on EMC technology, without them having to commit any money at all. They can visit the solution center and see a live demonstration of a similar-sized environment to their own. Giving them the peace of mind that the solution will work when deployed at their organisation," Christian Rosner, CEO at S&T.

Other significant enhancements to the EMC Velocity2 Partner Program in EMEA coming into effect today include, tier structure consolidation from five levels to three levels, simplified accreditation process making it quicker, easier and less costly to become accredited by EMC, two-tiers for distributors, revenue-based system replaces point-based system to accrue rewards and determine partner tier:

o Partner tier restructure -- the new EMC Velocity2 Program now has 3
levels, replacing the previous 5 levels (Affiliate, Associate,
Advantage, Premier and Signature), to ensure every level of partner
need is addressed, from a reseller that occasionally sells EMC
solutions through to partners that offer a complete EMC experience
through dedicated EMC Solution Centers. These include:
o Signature Solution Center Partners -- partners with alliance and
expertise in Microsoft(R), Oracle(R), SAP(R) or Cisco(R) and have a
EMC Velocity2 Signature Solution Center.
o Premier Solution Partners -- partners with accredited sales and
technical staff focused on selling EMC solutions. These partners
gain access to the Velocity2 Partner Program through the EMC
distribution network.
o Affiliate Partners -- partners selling a limited number of EMC
products via EMC's distribution network. The partners gain access
to the Velocity2 Partner Program via a simple web-based contract.

o Distributors tier restructure -- differentiating Velocity2
Distributors into two levels:
o Velocity2 Value Add Distributor -- partners focused on developing
business with Value Added Resellers active in the mid-market
segment.
o Velocity2 Volume Distributor -- partners focused on selling
products and solutions in the Small-to-Medium Business (SMB) market
segment.

o Revenue-based system -- a partner's tier and rewards are now based on
revenue instead of the previously complex points-based system.

o Simplified accreditation process -- partners can now advance their
Sales and/or Pre-Sales technical skills across EMC software, hardware,
and services practices without the need to become accredited in eight
product specialties. The consolidated model allows the partner to
efficiently achieve accreditation in their focus areas, aligning their
business model closely to their EMC opportunities.

Partners will also benefit from EMC's renewed focus on the delivering more services opportunities to EMC Authorized Network Services (ASN) Partners. The ASN program provides partners with the unique ability to distinguish themselves in the market and offer maximum customer value. ASN certified partners can engage with customers on more projects, enabling partners to capture more revenue per deal. Members of ASN will have the choice of being either ASN Implement Partners or ASN Support certified partners.

About EMC

EMC Corporation (NYSE: EMC) is the world's leading developer and provider of information infrastructure technology and solutions that enable organisations of all sizes to transform the way they compete and create value from their information. Information about EMC's products and services can be found at www.EMC.co.uk.

EMC is a registered trademark of EMC Corporation. All other trademarks are property of their respective owners

Contact: Sue Mehmet
+44-20-8758-5122
mehmet_sue@emc.com

Web site: www.emc.com
www.EMC.co.uk

Source: EMC Corporation

Sue Mehmet of EMC Corporation, +44-20-8758-5122, mehmet_sue@emc.com

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