Nimble Storage Earns 5-Star Rating in CRN's 2015 Partner Program Guide

SAN JOSE, CA--(Marketwired - Mar 24, 2015) - Nimble Storage (NYSE: NMBL), the flash storage solutions company, today announced it has been awarded a 5-Star rating in The Channel Company's CRN 2015 Partner Program Guide. This annual directory is the definitive listing of technology vendors who serve solution providers or deliver products through the IT channel. The Channel Company awards its 5-Star Partner Program rating to an elite subset of companies that offer solution providers and channel partners with the best partnering elements.

The Nimble Partner Program enables and rewards authorized partners who resell the Nimble Adaptive Flash platform, and drive strategic solutions selling opportunities. The recently launched program features various certification levels, incentives, and unique sales enablement tools, including:

• Gold, Silver, and Bronze certification levels, which represent the channel partner's accreditations and demonstrated success in selling Nimble storage solutions.
• Enhanced resources such as on-demand demonstrations, networking opportunities at both local and national events, and branded marketing materials for increased awareness and engagement.
• Inclusion in the Nimble Loyalty Incentive Program, which is a growth-focused allotment of marketing development funds (MDF), targeted sales performance incentive funds (SPIF), a trade-in program, discounts on Not-for-Resale (NFR) equipment, and a deal registration program that rewards partners with discounts for new sales opportunities.
• The Nimble Partner Portal and its accompanying partner mobile application which incorporate essential elements including sales and marketing tools, deal registration, and technical specifications for Nimble solutions.
• Joint programs in alignment with Nimble's technology alliance partners, such as a blueprint for strategic partners that includes a go-to-market quarterly business plan intended to create strategic solution selling opportunities.
• Sales tools available through the Nimble Partner Portal include customer-facing presentation materials, competitive beat sheets, call scripts, demonstration tools, marketing collateral, updated information on incentives and promotions, and free online training courses through Nimble University.

"We are proud to offer these comprehensive tools and resources that serve to drive new opportunities and growth for our partners' business," said Alvin DaCosta, director of Channel Marketing at Nimble. "Our partners' ability to sell Nimble products translates into growth and success for our company, so developing a simple program that was more accessible than others was a top priority from the start. In order for us to increase sales of our Adaptive Flash platform to enterprises worldwide, it's critical to provide our partners with not only best-in-class storage solutions, but the support, programs, and resources they need to pursue new business opportunities."

To determine the 2015 5-Star recipients, The Channel Company's Research team assessed each vendor's application based on investments in program offerings, partner profitability, partner training, education and support, marketing programs and resources, sales support, and communication.

"Solution providers have a lot of choices when it comes to selecting vendor partners. Identifying the right vendor, with the right technologies, and the right approach can make all the difference," said Robert Faletra, CEO, The Channel Company. "Our annual Partner Program Guide and 5-Star rating recognizes the best channel programs available in the market today to help solution providers determine which vendors deliver the best partner elements for their individual business goals."

For information on Nimble's global partner program, please visit http://www.nimblestorage.com/partners/. The 2015 Partner Program Guide will be featured in the April issue of CRN, and online at www.CRN.com.

Nimble Storage Resources

• Nimble Storage Website
• Case Studies and Videos
• Follow Nimble Storage on Twitter: @NimbleStorage
• Follow Nimble Storage on LinkedIn
• Visit Nimble Storage on Facebook
• Visit the NimbleConnect Community

About Nimble Storage
Nimble Storage (NYSE: NMBL) is redefining the storage market with its Adaptive Flash platform. Nimble's flash storage solutions enable the consolidation of all workloads and eliminate storage silos by providing enterprises with significant improvements in application performance and storage capacity. At the same time, Nimble delivers superior data protection, while simplifying business operations and lowering costs. At the core of the Adaptive Flash platform is the patented Cache Accelerated Sequential Layout (CASL) architecture and InfoSight, an automated cloud-based management and support system that maintains storage system peak health. More than 5,000 enterprises, governments, and service providers have deployed Nimble's flash storage solutions across 38 countries. For more information about Nimble Storage, visit www.nimblestorage.com and follow us on Twitter: @nimblestorage.

About The Channel Company
The Channel Company, with established brands including CRN, XChange Events, IPED and SharedVue, is the channel community's trusted authority for growth and innovation. For more than three decades, we have leveraged our proven and leading-edge platforms to deliver prescriptive sales and marketing solutions for the technology channel. The Channel Company provides Communication, Recruitment, Engagement, Enablement, Demand Generation and Intelligence services to drive technology partnerships. Learn more at www.thechannelcompany.com.