‘There’s a tremendous amount of opportunity for our partners to take the IBM technology portfolio into the clients and drive gains through both how they’re accessing AI and where they’re investing for growth,’ IBM’s David La Rose says.
IBM joins other technology vendors in the early weeks of 2026 in revealing a host of upcoming changes to its partner program, with an ‘adopt incentive’ slated for July 1 to give solution providers incremental dollars around deployment and the consumption of the vendor’s software-as-a-service and subscription portfolio as part of the updates.
The Armonk, N.Y. technology giant aims to complete the transition of its Partner Plus program effective Jan. 1, 2027, David La Rose, IBM’s general manager of partner ecosystem sales, told CRN in an interview.
“There’s a tremendous amount of opportunity for our partners to take the IBM technology portfolio into the clients and drive gains through both how they’re accessing AI and where they’re investing for growth,” La Rose said.
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IBM Partner Plus
IBM also revealed the changes just days ahead of its fourth fiscal quarter earnings, which the vendor reports on Wednesday.
IBM’s announced changes come as other technology vendors tweak their partner programs in the face of the new AI era, with January seeing program updates announced by Google Cloud, Extreme Networks, Cisco, Salesforce and ServiceNow.
“IBM is committed to helping partners deliver meaningful results for clients as they navigate and deploy new technologies,” Kareem Yusuf, IBM’s senior vice president of ecosystem, strategic partners and initiatives, said in an online post Monday. “With trusted relationships spanning thousands of partners, we will continue collaborating with them to solve real-world challenges with AI and accelerate business outcomes.”
IBM is accelerating its Partner Plus Program with new incentives, expanded benefits and support, AI‑driven selling experiences and scalable co‑marketing funding, according to the vendor.
The vendor is investing in hyperscaler marketplaces, the IBM Agent Connect partner program for independent software vendors (ISVs) and other streamlined routes to market.
As part of the changes, IBM is revising its coverage model and improving how its internal sellers and partners connect to drive deals faster, according to the vendor. IBM also aims to remove friction for resellers with improved incentives, better automation and stronger offers and products meant to drive pipeline.
Services partners should see more resources for embedding IBM technology seamlessly into their offerings and articulating IBM’s value to customers, according to the vendor. ISVs are receiving greater guidance on which technologies to build upon and resources for embedding IBM technology into their products. And IBM is working more with hyperscalers on marketplaces, self-service, e-commerce and other routes to market to make procurement easier for customers.
The revamped Partner Plus program should better align partners and IBM with how customers consume products with better incentives, better tools, better co-marketing support and better selling routes through hyperscaler partner marketplaces, La Rose told CRN.
The changes also take into account different vendors’ sales performance incentive funds (SPIFs), put SaaS and subscription offers forward for solution provider awards and include personal rewards cards for solution providers, he said.
Part of the changes will include an incremental 15 points on top of the transactional sale that they make around the license to drive the deployment and then the consumption and recognition for partners who drive multi-year contracts with customers.
“It is all around driving predictable, recurring revenue on a consistent basis,” he said. “Together, that’s going to mean that we’re going to be able to scale faster and get expanded reach for our clients and for the IBM portfolio.”
