IBM Security Services Alliance Program Guide

Program Overview and Objectives

Program Overview

The IBM Security Services Alliance Program promotes, supports, and rewards a select set of IBM Security Services' alliance partners who have invested valuable time and resources to:

• Support the development of IBM Security Services offerings.
• Train and enable IBM consulting and engineering resources to deliver the partner technology as part of the offering and integrate the partner technology into the IBM Security Services platform.
• Train and enable IBM sellers to position and sell the partner technology as part of the IBM Security Services offering with prospective customers.

Objectives

This Program offers benefits aligned with the requirements and prerequisites to accelerate IBM Security Services' and alliance partner's ability to:

• Increase mutual pipeline, signings, and revenues.
• Align alliance partner and IBM Security Services tactics and strategies to achieve mutual financial results.
• Grow customer advocacy and solution stickiness.

An abstract graphic depicting upward converging lines leading to a central hexagonal shape, symbolizing partnership and growth.

Partner Program Tiers

The Services Alliance Program has three tiers: Platinum, Gold, and Silver. The level of benefits, requirements, and prerequisites correspond to the tier.

IBM Security Services also tracks pipeline, signings, revenues, and customer engagements with partners not participating in the program to assess if those partners should be invited to participate in the future.

In the first calendar year (2021) of the program, partners invited to participate will have provisional Gold status for 2021. In January 2022, IBM will assess each partner's performance across the entire preceding year against the prerequisites and requirements to determine the partner's appropriate tier for 2022.

Starting in 2022, partners invited to participate in the program will be assigned a tier based on their performance against the prerequisites and requirements. All participating partners will be evaluated each January against the entire prior year's performance to set partners in the tiers associated with their performance against the prerequisites and requirements. Exceptions may apply in how some partners are assigned to a Program tier.

Partner Prerequisites

Partners must meet the following prerequisites in order to be eligible to be invited by IBM Security Services to participate in the Services Alliance Program.

• Participation in an IBM Security Services Offering: A standard, repeatable solution, sold by IBM, which incorporates (a) IBM's consulting and systems integration services and / or (b) IBM's managed security services; and possibly (c) Partner's Core Competencies.
• IBM Security Services Shield Framework Sponsorship: Required to drive (a) pipeline development and closure; and (b) participation in a worldwide standard offering.
• IBM Services Offering Availability: The IBM Services offering must be available worldwide for alliance partners in the Platinum and Gold Program tiers, and in at least two geographies for alliance partners in the Silver Program tier.
• Training: IBM Security Services requires that alliance partners provide unlimited, free training for IBM sellers, consultants, architects, engineers, and delivery personnel so that IBM Security Services can effectively:
  • Design, develop, and launch the associated IBM Security Services offering.
  • Enable IBM Security Services engineers to integrate the alliance partner technology into the IBM Security Services solution delivery platform.
  • Enable IBM Security sellers to position and sell the IBM Security Services offering to customers.
• Executive Sponsor: The alliance partner must provide an executive point of contact for IBM for internal alliance partner activities, including evangelizing the relationship, marshalling internal resources in support of the relationship, establishing strategic objectives, escalation management, and relationship management.
• Designated Alliance Manager: The alliance partner must provide a designated alliance manager to be a day-to-day point of contact on the relationship. This individual works with their IBM Security Services counterpart to prioritize activities, monitor progress against requirements, establish recovery plans when requirements are not met, coordinate executive business reviews, support pipeline development and deal closure, and evangelize the relationship internally as well as within IBM Security.
• Designated Technical Resource: The partner must provide the designated number of technical resources or engineers based on the prescribed tier.
• Deal Registration: The alliance partner must provide a deal registration program.
• IBM Software Integration: In alignment with offering management, the alliance partner must integrate with at least one IBM Security software solution.
• Related Agreements: Partner must have a procurement agreement, non-disclosure agreement, and data privacy agreement in place with IBM.

Program Requirements and Eligibility

Program Requirements

The Services Alliance Program runs on a calendar year. Partners must meet the pipeline requirement each year to be eligible to be invited into the Program and then, once in the Program, remain in the Program.

The requirement for program inclusion is solely IBM Security Services Aggregate Total Contract Value (TCV), which is the sum of: (a) the wins from the prior calendar year, (b) the losses from the prior calendar year, and (c) the sum of the current quarter's and next three quarter's pipeline in the IBM Sales Cloud tracking system.

TCV is the combination of the Partner portion of a qualified lead and the IBM Security Services value-add services portion. The partner's portion is their core competency, which IBM Security Services is reselling to the customer as part of an IBM Services offering.

IBM Security Services will measure each partner's Aggregate TCV in early January and compare the results against the Program requirements. Throughout the year, IBM Security Services will communicate to each partner their pipeline status against the Program requirements so that the partner has ample time to drive pipeline growth with IBM Security Services to overcome any shortfalls in the measurements. Partner-provided pipeline data will be used as input into the assessment of the health of the overall IBM Security Services and alliance partner relationship.

Eligibility

Partner participation in the invitation-only Program requires that the partner sign the IBM Security Services Alliance Program Agreement, in its entirety, in addition to showing achievement against the prerequisites and requirements.

Program Benefits

Partners will be eligible for the benefits in the program based upon their tier, which was established based on their achievement of the prerequisites and requirements during the prior calendar year.

Governance Benefits

• IBM Executive Sponsor: An executive point of contact within IBM for opportunities, escalations, and relationship management.
• Designated Alliance Manager: An ongoing point of contact within IBM Security Services for day-to-day relationship management.
• Workshop Participation: A workshop or advisory council to provide input and feedback on IBM Security Services program and go-to-market.
• Global Executive Business Reviews: A session designed to manage the business health between both participating organizations.

Offering Management Benefits

• Bilateral offering and product development overviews and roadmaps: Enables both parties to plan solution development, business development, and enablement activities that drive the identification of qualified leads.

Marketing and Business Development Benefits

• Internal Win Wires: Showcase a joint solution wins between the parties.
• Field Readiness Kits/Solution Briefs: Showcase the alliance partner value proposition, the IBM Security Services value proposition, the joint value proposition, and client outcomes for the IBM Services offering containing the alliance partner's core competencies.

Note: IBM's provision of benefits varies according to the partner's program tier. Some benefits are automatic, some are invite only, and some are not included. For example, benefits like participating in sales enablement training sessions and event sponsorship invitations are invite only.

Additional Program Details, Contacts, and Resources

Additional Program Principles

• IBM Security Services' intent is to resell the Alliance Partner's solution to the mutual Client as part of a comprehensive IBM Services Offering. IBM Security Services will not function solely as the Alliance Partner's product distributor. IBM Security Services value-add capabilities must be included in every Client engagement.
• Participation in the Program requires that the Alliance Partner's designated Alliance Manager notifies their IBM Security Services counterpart one week in advance of all meetings with IBM Security Services managers to give the designated IBM Security Services Alliance Manager time to brief IBM management on the status of the relationship. Failure to provide such notification will be viewed as an infraction on the teaming purpose of the Program and grounds for potential removal from the Program. IBM recommends that the Alliance Partner's designated Alliance Manager also notify their IBM Security Services counterpart in advance of meetings with senior IBM executives in other IBM organizations in a spirit of partnership.

Contacts

Email IBM Security Services to:

• Inquire about becoming a partner
• Inquire about the program
• Inquire about sales opportunities

IBMSecurityServicesAllianceProgram@wwpdl.vnet.ibm.com

Additional Terms

• IBM Security Services reserves the right to revise this program at any time with prior notice posted to the website.
• Partners may flag deal omissions through a formal review process.
• Partners do not have the right to audit IBM.
• Partners are expected to review pipeline status on a monthly basis to:
  1. Facilitate pipeline development and deal closure discussions.
  2. Identify trends.
  3. Prioritize actions to progress opportunities to closure.
  4. Identify course correction actions.

Resources

• IBM Security Services Alliance Partner External Website: https://ibm.biz/servicesalliance
• IBM Security Services Alliance Partner Internal Seismic Website: https://ibm.biz/servicesalliance-internal
• IBM Security Services Alliance Onboarding Checklist: https://ibm.biz/servicesalliance
• IBM Security Services FAQ: https://ibm.biz/servicesalliance