Becoming a Zimbra Partner

[batfastad]

Hi everyone

We've been running our own internal mail service for several years, Zimbra for 3 and Exchange before that.
We also provide hosting and mail hosting services for several other domains of "buddies" of ours within our industry. I've been thinking of branching out to more companies within our industry as well, as a one-stop-shop.

What are the requirements / procedures for becoming a Zimbra Partner / Reseller?
I've not been able to find this information anywhere.

Cheers, B

[phoenix]

Originally Posted by batfastad

What are the requirements / procedures for becoming a Zimbra Partner / Reseller?
I've not been able to find this information anywhere.

How about this page: Zimbra - Partner Tools

[batfastad]

That's the one. Thanks!

[phoenix]

Originally Posted by batfastad

That's the one. Thanks!

You're welcome, good luck in your application.

[raj]

Actually..Zimbra now comes under
VMware Service Provider Program = VSPP
http://www.vmware.com/partners/progr...vice-provider/

but yes starting the communication from the zimbra link is ok..in the end you will need join VSPP

Raj

[batfastad]

Oh no. Finally got round to looking into this in more detail.
Do I need to partner with VMWare as well as Zimbra?
Also it seems I need some sort of VMWare certification to be a Zimbra partner? Is that correct?
Do you get discounted license pricing if you are a Zimbra partner?

I don't want to offer any VMWare services other than small-scale Zimbra hosting. We use Xen and OpenVZ for all of our virtualisation needs.

Seems like becoming a Zimbra partner is more hassle than it's worth!
I'm only looking to offer Zimbra services to a small selection of my existing customer base within my industry. I'm not looking to get more customers as a result of being listed as an official Zimbra partner as I want to offer Zimbra as an extra to our current marketing customers.

I was mainly looking for access to improved tech support, better license pricing, up front info about product development/roadmap, and ability to give feedback higher up the chain than Bugzilla.
We recently had to renew our license in GBP through a reseller despite previously paying in USD, which was effectively a 70% price increase for us over y1 and y2! Made the cost of Zimbra only marginally less than hosted Exchange.

Cheers, B

[dave_kempe]

Maybe you just need to find a better reseller

[Klug]

Or propose rebanded hosting 8)

Honestly, it's not that simple to be an HSP now, it was much easier before.
If you want to be one, you HAVE TO be a VSPP (no need for certification however) and you'll have to go through all the vmware processes...

[LMStone]

Originally Posted by Klug

Or propose rebanded hosting 8)

Honestly, it's not that simple to be an HSP now, it was much easier before.
If you want to be one, you HAVE TO be a VSPP (no need for certification however) and you'll have to go through all the vmware processes...

Absolutely true. HSPs may choose not to resell VMware products other than Zimbra, and thereby earn the exemption from the VSPP certification requirements (which training and examination are provided by VMware only, and cost all-in ~$5,000 per engineer plus a week of no billings).

But, without VSPP certification, Zimbra HSPs are not listed in the VMware Partner Portal. VMware would not change this, nor have they responded to our suggestion to initiate a Zimbra-only certification track for Zimbra HSPs.

VMware has always been a channel-driven company. It seems only natural they would look for cross-sell opportunities within their partners. Plus, as of this writing they are still distracted over the challenges from their shift to vRAM-base pricing, which makes hosting RAM-intensive applications like Zimbra much more expensive than under the previous pricing methodology.

Having spent the first thirteen years of my career in technology mergers and acquisitions, I am hopeful that given some time, VMware will sort things out for the better; it's typical that it takes months and months for an acquirer to get their arms around the nuances of their newly acquired prize.

Hope that helps,
Mark

[cadavid_24]

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