As IBM Corp. changes its business model, it’s also making significant changes to its PartnerWorld program, which was developed for any business that wants to partner with IBM.

On Tuesday, the company announced it would introduce three specialized tracks for partners interested in building, servicing or selling around the hybrid and multicloud cloud space.

“The IBM PartnerWorld program has been predominantly built on resale over the last 10 years, but the market shifted and we’re now talking about platforms, we’re now talking about consumption,” said David La Rose (pictured), general manager of the IBM partner ecosystem at IBM. “We’re talking about how we’re going to evolve the PartnerWorld program to move into and address partners who are building on platforms and how they are moving to consumption, all around a hybrid model.”

La Rose spoke with Dave Vellante, host of theCUBE, SiliconANGLE Media’s mobile livestreaming studio, during the IBM Think Digital Event Experience. They discussed the addition of new specialized tracks for its program and steps IBM has taken to support partners during the current crisis. (* Disclosure below.)

Extending reach

The revamped program adds Build and Service tracks alongside an existing Sell channel. The new tracks are designed to align IBM’s partner program with the firm’s hybrid and multicloud strategies.

“This concept of the Build program and the Service program is only going to extend the reach that we have to the partner ecosystem we’re operating in,” La Rose explained. “We’re ready from a portfolio perspective, and now we’re catching up from a programs perspective.”

During the global pandemic, IBM has offered a number of resources to its partners. These have included an extension of the revalidation grace period, free cloud and artificial-intelligence resources for three months, and financial support for partners suddenly confronted with a need to shift to digital marketing.

“Some companies were digitally ready, but there were many companies that weren’t,” La Rose said. “We very quickly rolled out what we call our My Digital Marketing platform. We’re funding all of that 100% from an IBM perspective using our co-marketing dollars.”

Watch the complete video interview below, and be sure to check out more of SiliconANGLE’s and theCUBE’s coverage of the IBM Think Digital Event Experience. (* Disclosure: TheCUBE is a paid media partner for the IBM Think Digital Event Experience. Neither IBM Corp., the sponsor for theCUBE’s event coverage, nor other sponsors have editorial control over content on theCUBE or SiliconANGLE.)

Photo: SiliconANGLE