Okta Overhauls Partner Program

One year after launching a partner program, cloud-based identity and access management specialist Okta on Thursday is rolling out a more mature program for systems integrators and resellers.

Okta, founded by a former Salesforce.com executive in 2011 and backed by Andreessen Horowitz, Greylock Partners, Khosla Ventures and Sequoia Capital, initially developed the Okta Solution Providers (OSP) Program to separate systems integrators and resellers from ISVs.

Those ISVs are a key pillar of Okta's single-sign-on platform and the related Okta Technology Alliances Program provided a programmatic spot for the thousands of applications supported by Okta.

In the interim, channel partners like Slalom Consulting, Trace3, Agosto and SoftChoice were looking for more resources and a better-defined structure within the Solution Providers Program, according to Okta.

The updated OSP goes live Thursday with four tiers:

• An entry-level Bronze tier requires a $100,000 annual revenue commitment and certifications for one consultant and one sales representative. Benefits include resale and referral margins, discounted product pricing for internal production use and escalated technical support via e-mail.
  
  
• The Silver tier carries a $250,000 revenue commitment and requires certification of two consultants on implementations and a second sales rep. In addition to better margins, which increase with each tier, Silver partners also get a dedicated regional partner manager, access to beta programs and both phone and e-mail escalated technical support. Marketing development funds begin to kick in at this tier.
  
  
• A Gold tier comes with $1 million in yearly revenue commitments and training for four sales reps, two technical consultants and two implementation consultants.
  
  
• The highest tier, Platinum, has a $2 million revenue commitment and substantially higher employee certification requirements, with 10 sales reps, five technical consultants and four implementation consultants. Program benefits include a dedicated global partner manager.

All tiers include basic benefits such as access to the Okta Partner Community, sales and marketing tools, sales webinars, demo calls and a dedicated Okta "sandbox" for testing and proof of concept.

Posted by Scott Bekker on June 26, 2014 at 9:17 AM