NetApp® (NASDAQ: NTAP), the Intelligent Data Infrastructure company, today announced the impact of Partner Sphere, its hallmark partner program that is designed to accelerate partners’ strategic growth and hone their competitive edge and differentiating factor. To ramp up partners’ proficiencies in addressing enterprises’ complex digital transformation needs, NetApphas refreshed its partner capabilities, offering a comprehensive set of 16 solution competencies that cover AI, cloud transformation, cyber resilience and data infrastructure modernisation, aligned with business priorities in the region.
NetApp designed the program’s incentives and benefits to increase the earning potential of partners by supporting multiple selling motions empowering them with the resources to reach new customers and expand their footprint. For example, partners have access to Partner Demo Gear that offers options to showcase NetApp solutions via customer proof of concept or lab environments. Partners can also build their services capabilities with NetApp through the Services Certified tracks, enabling them to deliver consultative service design services and increase their services revenue by capitalising on the growing IT services market in APAC that is projected to hit US$325.41 billion in revenue by 2025.
Since NetApp refreshed its competencies and certifications in the Partner Sphere program, there are now close to three times more NetApppartners who are certified to distribute and sell NetApp’s AI solutions than the year before. In recognition of its efforts to enable the partner ecosystem, NetApp has been named Infrastructure and Storage Vendor at the CRN Asia Channel Awards Asia 2025. NetApp’s is also recognised as a 2025 Customers’ Choice by the Gartner® Peer Insights™ Customers’ Choice Distinction, and was designated as a 2025 5-Star Storage Vendor Program by CRN, The Channel Co.
“APAC is a hotbed for innovation and to move fast, organisations here need the support of a robust and modernised infrastructure with built-in resilience that takes on a unified approach to data storage, to get the most out of their data and AI solutions. Our Partner Sphere Program helps our partners address this need and deliver reliable, scalable storage solutions to businesses in the region. Our partners are responding to the call and advancing into new markets and customer segments with our industry-leading portfolio, driving revenue growth and appreciable business outcomes,” said Ganesan Arumugam, Senior Director, Channel Sales & Alliances of APAC at NetApp.
The Partner Sphere program focuses on partner enablement and capability development, benefits and incentives to boost the partner ecosystem’s capabilities and impact, including:
- Partner enablement and development: This includes 16 solution competencies defined in areas like AI, cloud transformation, cyber resilience and data infrastructure modernisation. With the explosion in AI, NetApp has recently refreshed the AI Solution Competencies to focus on the customer AI solution lifecycle.
- Services-ready enablement to scale and grow the business: NetApp is enabling partners to open new revenue streams with its Services Certified tracks, including the freedom to develop innovative services to deliver in-demand NetApp solutions, the ability to co-brand with NetApp Services Certified badging to drive market awareness, and the flexibility to build a complete portfolio with NetApp, Distributor, or partner-led services.
- Incentive-driven recognition: Through a progressive tiering system that provides increased benefits and support as partners move up the tiers, the program provides increased earning potential and incentives that help partners focus on capturing new logos and fosters co-investment while driving demand for NetApp solutions.
Ransomware attacks and data breaches have been proliferating in the past year, and this trend is only going to continue gaining steam. Australian businesses cannot rely on defenses to keep every attack out and need a strategy to minimise impact and recover data quickly. Through our partnership with NetApp, we’re empowering our customers to strengthen their cyber resilience strategies by beefing up the last line of defense – storage, putting them in good stead to continue powering intrepidly through their digital transformation journeys”, said Steve Parsonage, Executive Director, Canary IT.
