MapR Launches Channel Program With Eye On VAR, Systems Integrator Recruitment

Hadoop software distributor MapR Technologies is launching a partner program to expand its channel presence and capture what the company described as a fast-growing number of sales opportunities for its big data technology.

MapR will use the new three-tier MapR Converge Partners Program to both better serve its existing partners and recruit new partners--– the latter effort focused on value-added resellers, as well as regional and global systems integrators.

MapR is a leading player in the big data/Hadoop arena, marketing its flagship MapR Converged Data Platform, which incorporates Apache Hadoop and Spark software, for processing and analyzing huge volumes of file, database and event-streaming data.

[Related: The 2016 Big Data 100]

"We're growing exponentially and we want to be sure we can manage that growth," said Geneva Lake, vice president of worldwide alliances and channels, in an interview. While MapR has been adding to its own sales force, the company also needs to step up its channel efforts to meet expected demand, Lake said. "We want to make sure we're not missing opportunities."

"I think it's a natural evolution for them. They are very partner-friendly," said Mani Chhabra, CEO of Cloudwick, a Newark, Calif.-based solution provider, of the new MapR Converge Partners Program. Cloudwick has worked with MapR for three years, providing solutions development, migration and security services around the vendor's big data systems. The company also works with Cloudera, Hortonworks and other big data technology vendors.

Chhabra said the MapR Converged Data Platform technology is attractive to work with because of the multiple capabilities (real-time database, event streaming and enterprise storage) it supports within a single stack. He said the new partner program would help grow the MapR ecosystem and provide incentives for partners to invest in the relationship.

The market for big data technology and services is growing at a compound annual growth rate of 23.1 percent and is forecast to reach $48.6 billion in 2019, according to market research firm IDC. Hadoop-based systems from MapR, Cloudera and Hortonworks are key to that market.

MapR, San Jose, Calif., currently has a number of co-development and ISV partnerships, some with major vendors including Microsoft, SAP and Cisco Systems. The company also works with fulfillment partners, distributors and resellers in international markets such as Asia-Pacific. And the vendor has operated a basic single-tier partner program with standard benefits and product training for partners.

But Lake said MapR needs to step up its channel game in working with both regional and global systems integrators and to recruit more value-added resellers in North America -- the latter expected to go beyond fulfillment by generating demand, closing deals and developing services around the MapR platform -- especially in vertical industries.

MapR will be recruiting VARs and systems integrators and Lake said the company's partner roster could double over the next year, although she didn't provide specific numbers. But she did describe her "philosophy around VARs" as "quality, not quantity" in that MapR is seeking resellers who can work with the vendor's sales force and bring "strategic value-add" to sales deals.

On the systems integrator side, Lake said most integrators have big data practices and focus on vertical markets, but many of those practices are "in their infancy" and MapR wants to work with them by providing use cases and other assets.

Lake just joined MapR three months ago from Oracle where she worked for 15 years, holding the posts of senior manager of alliances and then director of commercial alliances in the last several years of her tenure there.

Another impetus behind MapR's channel initiative is the appointment of Oracle veteran Matthew Mills as the company's president and chief operating officer last October. Mills was senior vice president of North America sales at the time he left Oracle and Lake, who reports to Mills, described him as "very channel-friendly."

The new MapR Converge Partners Program will have three tiers: Affiliate, Preferred and Elite, with criteria including resell and co-sell revenue targets ($500,000 annually for Preferred and $2 million for Elite), influence in closing deals, investment in employee certification, and other factors.

Affiliated partners will likely account for about 80 percent of MapR's total partner roster and a majority of partner-generated revenue, Lake said, and will largely work with MapR on a self-service basis using a partner portal and other automated systems. The Elite tier will likely include only 10 or 12 global partners, she said.

The program will offer business planning, enablement, marketing and sales programs based on joint business objectives. On-demand sales, technical and implementation training will be provided specific to joint strategic business goals with certification programs driven by customer requirements and solutions.

MapR also will provide strategic and named account management with executive sponsorship, and joint public relations and go-to-market programs based on joint partner business plans and initiatives. Communications will be provided through the MapR Partner Portal, newsletters and other vehicles.