Nimble Storage Launches Global Partner Program

SAN JOSE, CA--(Marketwired - Mar 18, 2015) - Nimble Storage (NYSE: NMBL), the flash storage solutions company, today launched the Nimble Storage Partner Program, a global channel program that enables and rewards partners that resell the Nimble Adaptive Flash platform. The new program features the introduction of certification levels, incentives and unique sales enablement tools. In addition, Nimble will offer programs in alignment with its alliance partners, including Cisco and VMware, to create strategic solutions selling opportunities for joint partners. The new program is designed to enhance Nimble partners' business opportunities and increase the value partners deliver to joint customers.

As part of the Partner Program, Nimble will recognize three levels of certification for partners that sell products and solutions through the channel: Gold, Silver and Bronze. Each certification level represents the channel partner's accreditations and demonstrated success in selling Nimble storage solutions. Certified Nimble partners are well positioned to win new customer accounts, drive growth for their business and differentiate their company from the competition. Depending on certification level, Nimble will provide enhanced resources such as on-demand demonstrations, networking opportunities at both local and national events and branded marketing materials for increased awareness and engagement.

Incentives Reward Partners for Achieving Milestones
Nimble has designed its incentive program to reward partners in various market segments for attaining milestones, underscoring the company's commitment to partner profitability. Incentives offer inclusion in the Nimble Loyalty Incentive Program, which is a growth-focused allotment of marketing development funds (MDF) available to Gold and Silver certified partners. In addition, partners are provided targeted sales performance incentive funds (SPIF), a trade-in program that allows partners to replace older storage units with the Nimble Adaptive Flash platform, discounts on Not-for-Resale (NFR) equipment used for lab and demonstration purposes, and a deal registration program that rewards partners with discounts for new sales opportunities.

Unique Sales Tools for Enhanced, Real-time Information Access
The Nimble Partner Portal is a centralized repository for all partner-focused content including sales and marketing tools. For broader accessibility, Nimble has also launched a partner mobile application -- a downloadable application that includes the foundational information found on the Partner Portal, including deal registration and technical specifications for Nimble solutions. The most unique component of the Partner Portal lies in the amount of information an individual partner is able to access in real-time. Partners log in to the Portal and gain immediate access to specific sales data generated from Salesforce.com, including how many deals are registered and the pipeline associated with deals specific to that partner.

Additional sales tools available through the Partner Portal include customer-facing presentation materials, competitive beat sheets, call scripts, demonstration tools, marketing collateral along with the latest information on incentives and promotions.

Nimble Invests in Partners' Business with Sales Enablement Resources
The Nimble Partner Program makes resources readily available at no cost to partners to position them to effectively sell Nimble storage solutions to customers. Nimble also provides partners with a dedicated channel sales and marketing team to support strategic planning. Nimble has also developed joint programs in alignment with its technology alliance partners, such as a blueprint for strategic partners that includes a go-to-market quarterly business plan to create strategic solution selling opportunities.

For partners to embrace and learn about the Nimble Adaptive Flash platform, Nimble is providing all of the enablement resources required for success -- including a range of free online training courses through Nimble University. Partners have access to a dynamic sales and support team that delivers core sales and Fibre Channel protocol training. Nimble also offers a partner webinar series -- bi-monthly training to enable partners to learn about the latest products and solutions and provide feedback based on field experiences.

Supporting Quotes
"Nimble Storage has provided a comprehensive range of tools and resources for our organization to successfully sell products and solutions to enterprise customers. Not only are we incentivized and recognized for increased sales, which has helped our business, but the training and resource tools provided by Nimble differentiates them from other vendors in the enterprise storage market. They've given us best-in-class resources that have enabled our business to thrive and in turn, has helped our customers enhance their entire storage environment."
 - Guido Nilgen, managing partner, Medocino Society for Networked Systems Ltd.

"With a straight forward partner program from Nimble that spans a range of incentives, training opportunities and enablement tools we can go after new and expanded opportunities with enterprise customers and prospects," said Jim Hart, president of the Burwood Group. "We're also excited about some of the more innovative aspects of the program including the new partner mobile application that will put a range of real-time product information, enablement tools and deal data into the hands of our team that will enhance our productivity and ability to drive new levels of engagement with customers. It's a win/win for Nimble and the Burwood Group."
 - Jim Hart, president, Burwood Group, Inc.

"Nimble Storage has recognized the regional differences required in different countries and provided a comprehensive range of tools and resources for our organization to successfully sell products and solutions to enterprise customers in the UK. Not only are we incentivized and recognized for increased sales, which has helped our business, but the training and resource tools provided by Nimble differentiates them from other vendors in the enterprise storage market. As a business NG-IT has a mature team of industry veterans in converged storage and virtualization, and Nimble has worked hand in hand with us to capitalize on our joint go to market capabilities. They've given us best-in-class resources that have enabled our business to thrive and in turn, has helped our customers enhance their entire storage environment."
 - Simon Birney, managing director, NG-IT

"We believe that providing our partners the combination of best-in-class storage solutions and comprehensive enablement resources will prove invaluable in bringing our Adaptive Flash platform to enterprises worldwide. We know that the growth rate and success of our organization is dependent on our partners' ability to successfully and independently sell our products and solutions. Because of this, we've designed a program that removes the complexity seen in other partner programs. The Nimble Partner Program encompasses all of our certifications, incentives and enablement tools in an easy to understand approach. We are proud to introduce unique tools and resources that can be leveraged to drive growth for our partners' business."
 - Alvin DaCosta, director of Channel Marketing, Nimble Storage

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.

Nimble Storage, the Nimble Storage logo, CASL, InfoSight, SmartStack and NimbleConnect are trademarks or registered trademarks of Nimble Storage. Other trade names or words used in this document are the properties of their respective owners.