The explosive growth of data, fueled by the relentless advance of artificial intelligence and machine learning, has created a critical inflection point for the enterprise storage industry, demanding solutions that are not only powerful and scalable but also sustainable and efficient. In this high-stakes environment, the role of channel partners has evolved from simple resellers to indispensable strategic advisors who guide organizations through complex digital transformations. Recognizing this shift, Pure Storage has undertaken a significant evolution of its partner program, moving beyond traditional incentives to build a more focused, skilled, and profitable ecosystem capable of addressing the next generation of data challenges. The company’s 100% indirect model, which contributed to its $3.17 billion revenue for the full-year 2025, underscores its deep reliance on this partner network. This strategic realignment is designed to empower a select group of partners to capitalize on the market’s transition away from legacy disk storage, equipping them with the tools and expertise to deliver advanced all-flash solutions for everything from mission-critical databases to demanding AI pipelines, thereby ensuring shared success in a rapidly changing technological landscape.
1. A Foundation Built on Flash and Strategic Focus
Pure Storage, headquartered in Santa Clara, California, has solidified its position in the enterprise data market with a clear focus on flash technology and data management, underscored by strong financial performance, including $779 million in revenue for the first quarter of 2026. Founded in 2009 and led by CEO Charles Giancarlo, the 6,000-employee company operates entirely through an indirect sales model, collaborating with a network of partners ranging from global systems integrators like Kyndryl and NTT to major resellers such as CDW and ePlus. The company’s core mission involves expanding the application of its innovative flash software and quad-level cell (QLC) flash technology into use cases historically dominated by traditional hard disk drives. This strategic direction is managed by a global team of channel leaders, including Geoff Greenlaw for EMEA and LATAM, Hope Galley for the Americas, and Andrew Fisher for the Asia-Pacific and Japan region. Their collective goal is to drive the adoption of an all-flash future, leveraging a platform that integrates purpose-built hardware, embedded software, and comprehensive services to meet modern data demands.
In a decisive strategic shift, the company is now doubling down on a more focused channel strategy, choosing to invest more deeply in a smaller cohort of high-performing partners rather than spreading resources across thousands of accounts. This “fewer, bigger bets” approach is designed to elevate the relevance of Pure Storage within its key partners’ portfolios, fostering a more integrated and mutually profitable relationship. Under this new model, partners are positioned as the primary drivers of customer transformation, guiding clients through the complexities of modernizing their data infrastructure for demanding applications like AI, analytics, and cyber-resilience. A core element of this strategy involves incentivizing partners to lead the charge in replacing legacy disk systems with Pure’s all-flash arrays. Furthermore, the company is bolstering this initiative through strategic technology alliances with vendors such as Rubrik and CrowdStrike, enriching its portfolio to better attract and secure new customers, thereby expanding its market footprint through a highly skilled and motivated partner ecosystem.
2. Core Solutions Powering Partner Success
At the heart of the partner strategy are several core offerings within the Pure Storage platform, engineered to address the most pressing enterprise data challenges. The FlashBlade hardware stands out as a unified file and object storage platform optimized for the massive volumes of unstructured data generated by modern workloads. In particular, the FlashBlade/EXA platform is being aggressively marketed for AI deployments, enabling organizations to unlock the full potential of their data. Its high-performance architecture is also ideal for data-intensive sectors like healthcare, where facilities must manage and retain enormous datasets over the long term. This focus on high-end performance and throughput makes FlashBlade a critical tool for partners building solutions for customers grappling with the data deluge. The platform’s ability to scale and perform consistently provides a robust foundation for building next-generation data infrastructure, ensuring partners can meet the stringent requirements of AI-driven analytics and other high-volume data use cases.
Complementing its unstructured data solutions, Pure Storage continues to enhance its block storage offerings with the FlashArray C and X series, which are specifically tailored for high-performance database environments. Recent updates to the X and XL range have delivered a performance boost of up to 30% over previous generations, a critical advancement for organizations running mission-critical applications that demand minimal latency and maximum throughput. In parallel, the company is addressing the rapidly growing cloud-native landscape with Portworx, a container data management platform for Kubernetes. This solution is increasingly positioned as a compelling alternative for customers seeking to move away from other virtualization platforms, especially in light of recent pricing changes in the market. Furthermore, the introduction of Pure Fusion v2 software, coupled with the inclusion of Pure1 AIops in all active subscriptions, provides partners with a sophisticated toolkit for AI-focused data management, enabling them to deliver unified, intelligent, and cost-effective data environments.
3. The Reimagined Partner Program Framework
The reimagined partner program is structured to support a diverse ecosystem while rewarding deep commitment and expertise. Partners are categorized into distinct types, including resellers, distributors, global systems integrators (GSIs), and managed services partners (MSPs), each with tailored engagement models. In addition, the program recognizes partners with Services specializations and forges technology alliances for co-engineered solutions. Within this framework, partners are placed into one of two tiers: Preferred or Elite. Advancement to the Elite tier is determined by achieving specific annual dollar values in booked business and accumulating a required number of technical certifications. This top tier grants access to significant advantages, including higher back-end rebates on sales and greater company investment in advanced training and certification opportunities. This tiered structure creates a clear path for partners to grow their business with Pure Storage, incentivizing them to deepen their technical capabilities and sales proficiency to unlock the most lucrative rewards and resources available.
A significant pillar of the renewed program is the emphasis on sustainability, empowering partners to help customers reduce their environmental footprint. With data centers consuming an estimated 2-3% of the world’s electricity, the energy required for storage, cooling, and physical space represents a major operational and environmental cost. Partners are crucial in advocating for the transition from power-hungry disk arrays to Pure’s inherently more efficient all-flash solutions, which can dramatically lower energy consumption and cooling requirements. Beyond sustainability, the program places a strong emphasis on services-led opportunities. Partners can leverage a flexible suite of Storage-as-a-Service (STaaS) offerings, including EverGreen//One, //Flex, and the more traditional //Forever model, to meet diverse customer consumption preferences. Moreover, the Service Specialization Program enables qualified partners to deliver their own branded professional and support services for Pure technology, creating new revenue streams and fostering deeper customer relationships built on their unique value-add.
4. Comprehensive Enablement and Certification Pathways
To ensure partners are fully equipped to represent and implement its technologies, Pure Storage has developed a comprehensive and structured enablement curriculum. The journey begins with the foundational Pure Platform Positioning Certificate, which provides the essential knowledge needed to articulate and sell the company’s value proposition effectively. After completing this initial step, partners can pursue specialized, product-focused learning paths and assessments to gain deeper expertise. The program features robust certification tracks, including Global Enablement certifications for FlashArray Architect and FlashBlade Architect at both the Associate and Professional levels. For those focused on service delivery, a tiered IT professional services certification path progresses from Associate (data storage) to Professional (FlashArray, FlashBlade, Portworx), Specialist (implementation and support), and ultimately to the prestigious Expert level (platform architect). These certifications, which are valid for two years, ensure that partner skills remain current and aligned with the latest technological advancements.
Beyond formal training, the program provides an extensive array of benefits and resources designed to streamline operations and accelerate sales. Elite and Preferred partners are eligible for individual and entity rewards for sourcing competitive take-out deals, while Elite partners can earn additional rebates on subscription bookings and sales of new or strategic solutions. Operational support is delivered through tools like a formal deal registration system, the Pure Partner Intelligence dashboard for real-time analytics, and Configure, Price, Quote (CPQ) tooling to simplify the sales process. Partners also gain access to the Pure Realize program for proposal and solution expertise, as well as a rich Partner Library of resources. Enablement continues with the Partner Academy, collaboration opportunities with Technical Services teams, and access to Pure360 for demos and test-drives. These comprehensive resources, from cost calculators to remote installation support, create a robust support system that empowers partners to build, sell, and service Pure solutions with confidence.
A Strategic Path Forward
The comprehensive overhaul of its partner program marked a pivotal moment for Pure Storage, fundamentally reshaping its channel strategy to align with the dominant technological forces of the era. The initiative was a deliberate and calculated response to the converging demands for high-performance AI infrastructure and sustainable enterprise IT. By concentrating resources on a more focused group of highly skilled partners, the company successfully cultivated an ecosystem defined by deep expertise rather than sheer volume. The enhanced incentives, rigorous certification pathways, and extensive enablement resources equipped these partners to not only sell technology but to serve as true transformation agents for their customers. This strategic pivot enabled the channel to more effectively address complex use cases, from large-scale data analytics to cyber-resilience, solidifying its role as a critical engine for growth. The program’s success demonstrated that in a sophisticated market, a partnership built on shared investment in skill and strategic alignment ultimately delivered greater value than a broad, transactional approach.
