In today’s hypercompetitive media market, vendors must adopt innovative business development strategies to stay ahead. OpenDrives chose a “Channel-First” strategy that leverages the exceptional talent of the media and entertainment (M&E) professional channel partner community to represent our brand and achieve the very best outcomes for our customers.
Focus on the community and their overall success
OpenDrives’ customers reap numerous benefits from our Channel-First approach. First, they gain access to a more comprehensive suite of solutions to solve or evolve their workflows—complete workflow solutions that combine OpenDrives’ products with those belonging to the partner. Customers can also tap into a broader range of products and services, ensuring their needs are fully met beyond storage infrastructure—from content ingest to playout.
Second, our channel partners have created a strong community within the M&E community. They work continuously to foster trust and provide valuable insights for their communities. As a result, we have a better understanding of our customers’ overall pain points, needs, and goals and can thus deliver tailored, personalized solutions thanks to this deeper understanding.
Finally, OpenDrives customers benefit from the technical expertise and support that channel partners offer. Our select group of partners have specialized knowledge and resources spanning the broader ecosystem of products and workflow, ensuring customers receive top-notch service and support throughout their engagement.
It’s good for our business and our partners
Our partners are a force multiplier that significantly expands the OpenDrives brand and presence. They bring important third-party credibility and validation, enhancing OpenDrives’ reputation in the market. To sum it up neatly, they are our biggest advocates. Our Channel-First philosophy eliminates any conflicts in the sales process, ensuring that we build the strongest bonds and deepest trust. It’s a collaborative, mutually beneficial relationship that eliminates channel conflict over customer ownership. This allows us to focus on what we do best —building highly performant enterprise storage solutions driven largely by our customers’ evolving and growing needs and content creation problems.
Equally as important, our Channel-First strategy provides valuable customer insights beyond just storage needs. Our partners can offer a more holistic view of customer requirements, allowing OpenDrives to refine and enhance its product roadmap accordingly.
Its a win-win-win relationship for all involved.
Composable software architecture offers partner advantages
OpenDrives’ Atlas software-defined storage platform is particularly well-suited for a Channel-First approach. The Atlas platform offers composable feature bundles that allow customers who work at organizations of all sizes to be able to afford and enjoy enterprise-scale storage and data management that can economically scale as they grow thanks to unlimited capacity and price predictability.
Although we work with channel partners for all Atlas deals, our Atlas Essentials bundle is sold only through approved channel partners who are best able to extend the highest levels of customer satisfaction and support that matter to us. In short, we don’t work with just anybody; we work with the best channel partners.
For a comparison of all our Atlas bundles, check out our Pricing page.
OpenDrives Empower Channel Partner Program Improvements
OpenDrives’ Empower Channel Partner Program is evolving as fast as our customers and partners. We’re always working to strengthen our partner relationships, which means constant improvement to make the program more attractive. This involves evaluating and improving upon our Sales Performance Incentive Funds (SPIFs), Market Development Funds (MDF), and sponsorships.
Furthermore, we’re aiming to improve our partner portal, making content and resources more accessible. This will provide partners with the tools they need to succeed and drive higher engagement.
Our Channel-First strategy offers numerous benefits for partners, customers, and OpenDrives, and our OpenDrives Empower Channel Partner Program sits at the center of this strategy. We’re committed to expanding the program benefits to ensure continued success. By prioritizing partnerships and leveraging our channel partner’s expertise, we can expand our reach, enhance customer satisfaction, and drive growth.
To learn more about our Channel-First approach and our Empower Channel Partner Program, contact us at partners@opendrives.com.
Watch this video below to hear directly from one of OpenDrives’ premier channel partners, Creative Mobile Solutions, about why they like working with OpenDrives to solve remote workflow challenges for media and entertainment powerhouses like Fox Sports.