2024

IBM Partner Plus

Sales Incentive Program Guide
for Reseller and Systems Integrator Business Partners
Version 5.2

Effective September 3, 2024

2024 IBM Partner Plus Sales Incentive Program Guide for Business Partners – V5.2 1
 Table of Contents

A - Overview .............................................................................................................................. 4
B - Margin .................................................................................................................................. 5
C - Pricing (Value Seller) ......................................................................................................... 6
D - Incentives Framework ...................................................................................................... 9
E – Incentive eligibility .......................................................................................................... 19
F - Products and Services ..................................................................................................... 21
G - Ordering and Claiming .................................................................................................... 22
H - Payment Process ............................................................................................................. 23
I - The sales journey .............................................................................................................. 26
J - Work with your Distributor .............................................................................................. 28
K - General Terms .................................................................................................................. 30
L - Definitions used in this guide.......................................................................................... 31
M - Need help? ........................................................................................................................ 33
N - History of revisions .......................................................................................................... 35
Appendix – Complementary information ........................................................................... 37

This guide and future versions are available at:

http://www.ibm.biz/PartnerPlusIncentiveProgramBPs

Prior to September 3, 2024 (go live of this document), the current version of the program should be
used. Available at:
https://ibm.biz/PreviousBPGuide

2024 IBM Partner Plus Sales Incentive Program Guide for Business Partners – V5.2 2
 2024 IBM Partner Plus Sales Incentive
Program Guide for Reseller and Systems Integrator
Business Partners

This guide describes the 2024 IBM Partner Plus Sales Incentive Program for Reseller and Systems Integrator
Business Partners. This guide and any subsequent versions will be posted on the IBM Partner Plus™ Incentive
Program webpage.

This incentive program structure provides Business Partners (Business Partners acquiring directly from IBM, Tier
1 Resellers and Systems Integrators, and Business Partners acquiring from an IBM Distributor, Tier 2 Resellers
and Systems Integrators) with predictability of earnings and incentives by transaction. There are core elements
aligned to Software (New License, Renewals, Trade Ups and Reinstatement), Infrastructure (Power, Storage,
LinuxONE and Technology Lifecycle Services) offerings to provide a better experience to Business Partners. The
goal of this program is to increase a Business Partners’ earnings if they build IBM expertise, register deals, and
focus on selling to End User Customers.

The incentive program information provided within this guide is restricted to IBM Business Partners (including,
but not limited to, specific incentive amounts earned by a Reseller or Systems Integrators (Business Partners)
and/or paid by IBM either on a transactional or aggregated basis) and should not be shared with third parties
(including end users).

For the purposes of this document, the use of BP, Business Partner and partner should be taken to mean Reseller
or Systems Integrators. This guide is effective beginning September 3, 2024.

Unless it is specifically stated, all language provided within this guide refers to both Software and Infrastructure
(Power, Storage, LinuxONE and TLS).

Business Partners are eligible for incentives if:

• they are an approved IBM Partner Plus™ member
• their purchases are made from an IBM Preferred Distributor identified in IBM Partner Profile. Preferred
Distributor for TLS Expert Care incentives should be aligned to the Power/Storage Preferred Distributor.
• they have an approved IBM Business Partner Agreement (BPA)
• they have an approved deal registration for the opportunity in Partner Portal
• for Software, transactions must be fulfilled via Passport Advantage and Passport Advantage Express
• for Software, incentives are earned for products as indicated on respective Eligible Part List
• for Infrastructure (Power, Storage, LinuxONE and TLS), transactions must be priced via ePricer
• for Technology Lifecycle Services Expert Care offerings, transactions must be sold at time of infrastructure
sales and attached by eConfiguration.

2024 IBM Partner Plus Sales Incentive Program Guide for Business Partners – V5.2 3
More details follow below.

A - Overview
The Ecosystem Incentive Program is divided in two groups: (i) discount at the time of pricing definition and (ii)
incentives paid after the deals have closed. Both mechanisms focus on investing in Business Partners selling IBM
products.
Margin and incentives paid to the Partner with approved Deal Registration form the foundation of the program.

The structure of incentives is:

Margins (what Business Partner

should expect from their Distributors)

Value Seller Program

(Market Price for all Partners, Preferred Price for (i) Discount at
Pricing/ Margin
‘First to Register’ deal registrations) time of pricing

Partners with deal registration approved may be

eligible for Special Bid consideration, if needed.

Base Sales Incentive

Incentives for
(ii) incentives paid after
New licenses Select Territory Accelerator
the deals have closed
and Products
Proficiency Incentive

Base Sales Incentive

Incentives for
Select Territory Accelerator (ii) incentives paid after
Renewals, Trade Ups
Proficiency Incentive the deals have closed
and Reinstatement
“On time” renewal*

GOE end user incentives, if available, will be paid through the Preferred Distributor.

2024 IBM Partner Plus Sales Incentive Program Guide for Business Partners – V5.2 4
B - Margin
IBM offers a margin in all our prices that are provided to the Distributors. Recommended prices or recommended
margins referred to in this guide or generated through electronic pricing tools, including references to
a Recommended Reseller Price, are recommendations only. There is no obligation for a Distributor to comply
with the recommendation. IBM Distributors have sole discretion in determining the amount of the discount that
the Distributor passes on to its customer-facing Reseller.

Global Standard Infrastructure Margins:

IBM does not provide discrete recommendations for Power, Storage, and TLS Margin to be split between the
Distributor and Business Partner. Each Business Partner should have these discussions directly with their
Preferred Distributor. A margin share recommendation for LinuxONE between the Distributor and the Business
Partners is suggested below.

Global Standard Software Margins:

These are the Software global standard margins that are applied worldwide. The Business Partner margin for
Software Business is calculated using the Recommended Reseller Price as reference point.

Software Channel Margin Recommended Reseller Margin

New license on premise

SaaS (new and renewal)
Software trade up and reinstatement Up to 2%
IBM Cloud (new and renewal)
Technology Expert Labs Service Parts

Technology Expert Labs Service Parts Accelerator* 6%

Subscription License (new, renewal or upgrade)

Subscription & Support (S&S) Up to 1%
Support Offerings

IBM Learning Subscriptions** 15%

IBM Z OTC Software*** Consult with Distributor

*If a transaction includes select IBM Technology Expert Labs (TEL) eligible Services Parts identified at ibm.biz/TELofferings, a
6% margin increase will be applied at the time of the resale. For a list of eligible TEL parts, please refer to the software product
list. The 6% margin increase is recommended to flow to the IBM Reseller for their efforts during the presales and sales
cycle. This will provide to partners increased access to standard, pre-packaged services offerings with defined deliverables
across all partner types. These parts are not eligible for additional incentives.

** For IBM Learning Subscription parts (listed below), we recommend 15% of the margin to be shared by the
Distributor to the Reseller. These parts are not eligible for additional incentives.

2024 IBM Partner Plus Sales Incentive Program Guide for Business Partners – V5.2 5
***IBM Z OTC Software follows a revised TCI Program for discounts/margin. Information shared on demand.
Please refer to a zProduct IBMer.

There are adapted margins in some countries to compensate taxes or local requirements. Software
Recommended Margin is different in Latin America, GCG and Japan. Check adapted margin at Appendix A.

If a transaction is classified as a Compliance Order (transaction for end user customers out of compliance on
licenses), a reduced margin is applied. Refer to Appendix F.

C - Pricing (Value Seller)

Getting a price to Resellers’ clients depends on several elements. IBM offers a discount off “entitled price” to
Business Partners (Distributors, Resellers and Systems Integrators buying directly from IBM) that are members
of the IBM Partner Plus Program and use the self-service quoting tools (Partner Guided Seller - “PGS” or ePricer).
IBM offers a further discounted Value Seller Preferred Price, to partners that are approved with deal registration
for the opportunity. The final price to the Reseller is determined between the Reseller and its Distributor.

The Value Seller Program is a pricing approach that provides a market-ready price for Software and Infrastructure
(i.e., one that is known to be competitive and less than entitled price). For Software, Value Seller pricing is based
on an AI model which determines the price considering multiple factors (e.g., historical price, industry, market,
client, etc.). For Infrastructure, Value Seller pricing is based on pre-approved discount tables by each market, also
known as exhibits. The objective of Value Seller is to provide a competitive price, quickly, while limiting the need
for special bids.
The Value Seller Program is defined by two layers of discounting:

1. Value Seller Market Price (VSMP) is a competitive price used as the starting base price for pricing offered
to a Distributor for any Reseller engaged in an opportunity with an end user. The Value Seller Market Price
is also disclosed to the Reseller as the “Recommended Reseller Price”. For Infrastructure, Resellers
visibility is limited, therefore please refer to the program announced in your geography.

2. Value Seller Preferred Price (VSPP) provides up to an additional 15% discount off the Market Price for
Software and Infrastructure when the Reseller has an approved deal registration in IBM Partner Portal.
The Preferred Price is also disclosed to Resellers with an approved deal registration as the
“Recommended Reseller Price” within the quoting tool.

If Resellers require a special bid (i.e., require a steeper discount than the Preferred Price, or part type is not in
scope for Value Seller), there is a specific process/documents to request a special bid, please refer to your
Preferred Distributor for help. Special bids are provided to Distributors or Resellers and Systems Integrators
buying directly from IBM.

2024 IBM Partner Plus Sales Incentive Program Guide for Business Partners – V5.2 6
If Resellers wants to use IBM list price, without a Value Seller or a Special Bid, there is no need to create a request
in IBM platforms (PGS/ePricer), the reseller simply ask the Preferred Distributor for a quote.

Regardless of the Recommended Reseller Price shown to Resellers, Business Partners must always agree to a
final price with their Preferred Distributors before putting a quotation in front of the end user customer.
Recommended prices or recommended margins referred to in this guide or generated through electronic pricing
tools, including references to a Recommended Reseller Price, are recommendations only. There is no obligation
to comply with a recommendation.

For India: List price is not a methodology used in this country.

1. Value Seller for Software

For Software, the Value Seller price is based on an AI model which determines the price considering multiple
factors (e.g., historical price, industry, market, client, etc.). The price approved will be displayed in the Partner
Guided Seller tool (PGS), which is available to all Resellers and Distributors. Value Seller for Software is explained
at: PGS Enablement page.

The price available in Partner Guided Selling (PGS) is a recommended Reseller price and should be discussed with
Distributors to define earnings in each opportunity (costs and margins).

Here are two examples of how this methodology will be implemented.

*Important: The following %s are examples, the real Value Seller discount %s will be presented in PGS during the
process of requesting a price approval.

Example I – DB2 pricing without an approved Deal Registration

Entitled price $150,000
Value Seller discount % (discount determined by AI model) 26%
Value Seller Market Price $111,000
(Recommended Reseller Price disclosed to a Reseller in PGS)

Example I – DB2 pricing with an approved Deal Registration

Entitled price $150,000
Value Seller discount % (discount determined by AI model) 26%
Value Seller Market Price $111,000
Value Seller additional discount % 15%
(when the partner has the deal registration approved)
Value Seller Preferred Price $94,350
(Recommended Reseller Price disclosed to a Reseller in PGS)

A price created using the Value Seller program follow these statements:
• Distributors and Resellers must agree on the price that will be charged to the Reseller.
• Some quotes through the Value Seller for Software Program will have a Maximum end user Price (MEP)
greater than the recommended Reseller price, which is governed and auditable as stated in the Business
Partner Agreement. The Reseller determines the price to its clients, though it is not mandatory for the
Reseller to use the amount defined by IBM, it may not exceed the MEP. In some circumstances IBM may
choose not to require an MEP (e.g., in a low-risk country, under a certain amount, etc.).

2024 IBM Partner Plus Sales Incentive Program Guide for Business Partners – V5.2 7
 • If a Reseller needs a different or steeper discount from the pre-approved discount displayed in PGS tool
(market price or preferred price), the partner can choose to override a price and request a Special Bid on
the condition that they have the Deal Registration.
• The Recommended Reseller Price is the base for calculating incentives where they apply (read more in
incentive payment). When the deal is not registered, the Recommended Reseller Price is the Value Seller
Market price. When a deal is registered, the Recommended Reseller Price is the Value Seller Preferred
Price.
• Value Seller pricing is not available for Public Cloud
• The Deal Registration terms are defined in the Deal Registration Guidelines.
• IBM reserves the right to ensure compliance through audit and/or to withdraw or modify this program
and/or the enhanced margins at any time.

2. Value Seller for Infrastructure

For Power and Storage, the Value Seller price is based on pre-approved discounts, which can vary per geography
and are available in the respective product exhibits. The discounts are announced to all IBM Distributors and are
available at ePricer as a self-service tool. Recommended discounts are announced to the Resellers in a few
geographies.

There are different exhibit tables, with percentage of discount, for each geography and brand. Please use the
appropriate exhibit. Business Partner exhibit page.

The Value Seller Market Price is visible to all Resellers and the Value Seller Preferred Price to Resellers with an
approved deal registration. Regardless of the pricing methodology, IBM Distributors shall have sole discretion in
determining the price provided by the Distributor to the Reseller.

Here are two examples of how this methodology will be implemented for Power and Storage. Important: The
following % are examples, the real Value Seller discount % will be displayed in the exhibit tables and applied in
ePricer when quoting.

Example I – Storage pricing without an approved Deal Registration

Entitled price $100,000
Value Seller discount % 20%
Value Seller Market Price $80,000
(Recommend Reseller Price disclosed to a Reseller in ePricer)

Example II – Storage pricing with an approved Deal Registration

Entitled price $100,000
Value Seller discount % 20%
Value Seller Market Price $80,000
Value Seller additional discount % 15%
(when the partner has the deal registration approved)
Value Seller Preferred Price
(Recommend Reseller Price disclosed to a Reseller in ePricer) $68,000

• If a Reseller needs a different or steeper discount from the pre-approved discount displayed in ePricer
tool (market price or preferred price), the partner can request a Special Bid via their Preferred Distributor
on the condition that they have the Deal Registration.

2024 IBM Partner Plus Sales Incentive Program Guide for Business Partners – V5.2 8
 • The Recommended Reseller Price is the Value Seller Market price (when the deal registration is not
approved). When a deal registration is approved, the Recommended Reseller Price is the Value Seller
Preferred Price.

• Value Seller pricing is not available for LinuxONE but a Preferred Price is available through special bid to
Resellers with an approved deal registration.

• The Deal Registration terms are defined in the Deal Registration Program.

• IBM reserves the right to ensure compliance through audit and/or to withdraw or modify this program
and/or the enhanced margins at any time.

D - Incentives Framework
The IBM Business Partner Ecosystem offers a comprehensive incentive stack that rewards Business Partners for
their investment in the sales cycle. To understand each set of incentives across Infrastructure, Software and
Technology Lifecycle Services (TLS), IBM has grouped all options into 4 purchase options groups: (1) New
Licenses/Products, (2) Renewals for Software, (3) Renewals for TLS, (4) Trade Ups and Reinstatement.

1. New License/Products: Business Partners can purchase new licenses for a specific amount of time
(which is defined in the contractual terms) and/or Infrastructure products. This category includes Power,
Storage, LinuxONE, TLS Expert Care, New Software On-Premise, New Subscription License (SL) and New
SaaS.
2. Renewals for Software: After the first entitlement period of a license ends, the client can renew.
Renewals includes three groups of licenses: Subscription and Support (S&S), Renewal Subscription
License (SL), Upgrade to Subscription License (SL) and SaaS.
3. Renewals for Technology Lifecycle Services (TLS): After a contract component end date the partner
can renew the component to extend the dates and/or add new services.
4. Trade Ups and Reinstatement: Trade ups is when a client choose to trade-up a technology to perpetual
license. A Reinstatement is sold to re-activate lapsed S&S.

Each group defined above will be eligible for the following incentives. If needed, use the definitions glossary:
1. Base Sales Incentive: The Base Sales Incentive is paid in recognition of the core value provided by
Business Partners when selling to end user customers. This incentive is earned as a transactional
incentive applied to the total sales revenue from eligible products. This element requires having an
approved Deal Registration (approved for the products that are being sold in that transaction) in IBM
Partner Portal or being the Business Partner of record for renewals. No skills/badges are required to
earn Base Incentive.
2. Select Territory Accelerator: The Select Territory Accelerator is paid in recognition of a Business Partner
driving revenue growth and finding new prospects. This incentive is earned as a transactional incentive
applied to the total sales revenue from eligible products. This element requires having an approved Deal
Registration (approved for the products that are being sold in that transaction) in IBM Partner Portal or
being the Business Partner of Record for renewals and the customer needs to be located within Select
Territory. No skills/badges required to earn Select Territory Accelerator. TLS Renewals on time are not
eligible for this incentive. See more details.

2024 IBM Partner Plus Sales Incentive Program Guide for Business Partners – V5.2 9
 3. Proficiency Incentive: The Proficiency Incentive is paid in recognition of Business Partner investment in
skills development through proficiency badging (Sales Foundation Badge and Technical Sales
Intermediate Badge) for the products they sell to end user customers. A proficiency badge must be
completed by the same individual (proficiency individuals). Skills are tracked at the WWID profile. This
incentive is earned as a transactional incentive applied to the total sales revenue from eligible products.
This element requires having an approved Deal Registration (approved for the products that are being sold
in that transaction) in IBM Partner Portal or being the Business Partner of Record for renewals. Badges
must be current and validated at time of eligibility check to earn Proficiency Incentive. See more details.
4. “On time” Renewal for Subscription and Support (S&S): is an incentive available on Subscription and
Support (S&S) and offered to all Business Partners (partner that is fulfilling the transaction) when
purchase order is submitted to IBM by the Distributor prior to the start date of the part’s coverage period.
See more details.
5. “On time” Renewal and Warranty Exit Coverage for Technology Lifecycle Services (TLS): is an
incentive available for Technology Lifecycle Services (TLS) and offered to all Business Partners (partner
that is fulfilling the transaction) when the renewal component or warranty exit capture is closed on or
before the component or warranty expiration date.
For Renewals there are 3 important definitions to keep in mind:
1. Quantity Purchased: All Software renewals incentives will be paid only in alignment to the quantity of
part types purchased in the previous sales order. See more details.
2. “On time” renewal: is when purchase order is submitted to IBM by the Distributor on or prior to the start
date of the Software part’s or TLS components coverage period. See more details.
3. Business Partner of Record (BPR): Is the BP who previously sold the new license trade up, or
reinstatement, or closed the last renewal. Business Partner of Transaction for SaaS and Reseller of
Transaction for S&S have been rebranded to Business Partner of Record. See more details.

IBM Preferred Distributors shall have sole discretion in determining the amount (if any) of incentives to the
Reseller. Resellers should discuss the incentives directly with their Distributor as discounts may vary.

1. New Licenses / Products (Software and Infrastructure)

The products eligible for this group of incentives are defined in the Deal Registration Product Groups and
supporting information are eligible in the Appendix B – Products Revenue Stream codes.
And the incentives components are:
• Base Sales Incentive: base incentive for partners with an approved deal registration
• Select Territory Accelerator: additional incentive for partners with an approved deal registration and the
end user customer is located within the Select Territory.
• Proficiency Incentive: additional incentive if partner has an approved deal registration and the required
badges (1 tech + 1 sales for the same individual) by Proficiency Group for the approved deal registration
group. For TLS Expert Care proficiency is aligned to Power and Storage proficiencies.

2024 IBM Partner Plus Sales Incentive Program Guide for Business Partners – V5.2 10
Summary of all incentives for products being purchased for the first time.
Base Sales Select Territory
New License/Products Incentive Accelerator
Proficiency Incentive

1A. New Software On Premise

3% 13% 7%
(include monthly license)
1B. New SaaS 3% 13% 7%

1C. New Subscription License 3% 14% 7%

1D. IBM Cloud (new and renewal*) 4% 6% N/A

1E. Storage, Power*** and LinuxONE 1% 1.5% 1.2%

1F. TLS Expert Care** 1% 1.5% 1.2%

1G. Advanced and Extended Support
N/A 10% 7%
Offering (first sale)
Requirements (checks made at eligibility check)
Deal Registration Required Required Required

Customer is located
Select Territory Accelerator
within Select Territory
Associated to the
Proficiency Badges
Proficiency Group

*IBM Cloud Renewal eligibility does not require Deal Registration and BPR is not required temporally.
**Starting September 1, 2024 TLS Expert Care incentives will be paid for Advanced and Premium Expert Care only.
***Standard Rate - Effective July 1st
***For all authorized Business Partners WW there is a promotional bonus for Power Scale-Out products.
Until December 31st 2024, IBM is doubling the Select Territory Accelerator Incentive (from 1.5% to 3%) for
products included in Deal Registration Group BPHWPW002 (Power Scaleout). Effective August 8th.

Check revenue stream codes eligibility for group 1A (New Software On Premise)
Check revenue stream codes eligibility for group 1B (New SaaS)
Check revenue stream codes eligibility for group 1C (New Subscription License)
Check product eligibility for group 1D (IBM Cloud)
Check product eligibility for group 1E (Power, Storage and LinuxOne)
Check offerings eligibility for group 1F (TLS Expert Care)
Check offerings eligibility for group 1G (Advanced and Extended Support Offering – first sale)

An opportunity can be eligible for one, two or all three incentives. To be eligible for any of above incentives the
Business Partner must be the first qualified partner with value to register the deal in IBM Partner Portal. Each
incentive is operated and measured independently for each product/deal registration group. First-in qualified
criteria applied to Non-GOE and GOE accounts. Check GOE definition.

2024 IBM Partner Plus Sales Incentive Program Guide for Business Partners – V5.2 11
For any Sales Incentive reward to be paid, the end user customer must complete the purchase of the IBM
products. New Licenses (SL and SaaS) purchased as multi-year, new pre-paid or committed initial signings get
paid the same incentives for all years up to 5 years (which is the same incentives as the year one incentive). This
commitment of incentive payment is not applicable to New License On Premise.

2. Renewals (Software and Technology Lifecycle Services (TLS))

IBM is rewarding Business Partners for growing their IBM revenue stream by driving renewals on-time. The
opportunity must meet all requirements at the eligibility check (time of invoice or renewal start date/ order date,
according to incentive eligibility section) for the partner to receive the incentives.
The incentive is meant to reward the Business Partner for maintaining the customer relationship and fulfilling
the end user’s renewal. The incentive is managed at the part level and is limited or defined (in most situations)
by the quantities previously sold by the Business Partner.
The products eligible for Software Renewal incentives are defined in the Deal Registration Product Groups and
supporting information are eligible in the Appendix B – Products Revenue Stream codes.

The services eligible to Technology Lifecycle Services (TLS) incentives are defined in the Deal Registration Product
Groups.
They are grouped into four purchase options model:
• Group 2A: Subscription & Support (S&S) and S&S Sustained Support
• Group 2B: Subscription License (SL) Renewal, Upgrade, SL Sustained Support, Advanced Support
and Extended Support

• Group 2C: SaaS Renewal

• Group 2D: Technology Lifecycle Services (TLS) Renew On-Time and Warranty Exit Coverage

Group 2A: Subscription & Support (S&S) and S&S Sustained Support: This category includes renewals of
Subscription & Support (S&S) and Sustained Support when the first year of the contract was for a new on-
premise license. The client classification is a differentiator. For this set of contracts there are 2 incentives: Base
Sales Incentive and Renew on time.
If a Business Partner needs to re-quote his opportunity on the new incentives stack, they should work with their
preferred Distributor. IBM will not issue new quotes.

The incentives components are:

• Base Sales Incentive: is a base incentive for all partners with Business Partner of Record status. In
renewals there is no need to have a deal registration approved. It’s limited to quantities previously sold.
• Renew on time: is an incentive paid if the renewal is made prior to the end of entitlement period. Business
Partner of Record status is not required, any partner who renews on time is eligible for this incentive. It’s
limited to quantities previously sold.

For this set of incentives, the percentage will change if the customer is located within Select Territory (partner
account) or Non-Select Territory (IBM account).

2024 IBM Partner Plus Sales Incentive Program Guide for Business Partners – V5.2 12
Summary of all incentives for products being purchased as Subscription and Support (S&S) and S&S Sustained
Support (Y part types).
Base Sales Incentive
Subscription & Support (S&S) Renew
(Business Partner
and S&S Sustained Support (Y)* of Record)
on Time

Non-select Territory 2%
2%
(IBM account)

Select Territory 4%
3%
(BP account)

Requirements (checks made at eligibility check)

Business Partner of Record (BPR) is required for S&S

Paid to BPR BPR not required
Deal Registration Approval is NOT required for S&S

Part type quantity Limited to quantities previously sold Limited to quantities previously sold

Prior of the end of entitlement

When is renewed?
period (on time)

An opportunity can be eligible for one, two or all the three incentives.
Check BPR definition
Check quantity definition
Check “on time” definition
Check revenue stream codes eligibility for group 2A (S&S - Subscription and Support and S&S Sustained
Support)
Sustained Support (post EOL support) will receive standard renewal incentives regardless of license type.

Group 2B: Subscription License (SL) Renewal, Upgrade, SL Sustained Support, Advanced Support and
Extended Support:: Renewals of a prior subscription license and upgrades made from a previous Subscription
and Support (S&S) moving to Subscription License are included in this category.

The incentives components are:

1. Select Territory Accelerator: additional incentive to the Business Partner of Record (for Subscription
License Renewals) or incentive to the Business Partner with Deal Registration Approved (for Subscription
License Upgrade) if the customer is within a Select Territory (partner account). It’s limited to quantities
previously sold for Renewals (quantity previously sold is not required for upgrades).
2. Proficiency Incentive: additional incentive to the Business Partner of Record (for Subscription License
Renewals) or incentive to the Business Partner with Deal Registration Approved (for Subscription License
Upgrade) if the partner has the required badges (1 tech + 1 sales for the same individual) by Proficiency
Group. It’s limited to quantities previously sold for Renewals (quantity previously sold is not required for
upgrades).

2024 IBM Partner Plus Sales Incentive Program Guide for Business Partners – V5.2 13
Summary of all incentives for Subscription License Renewals and Support Offerings
Select Territory Proficiency
Subscription License Renewals Accelerator Incentive
Subscription License Renewal
Support Offerings – Advanced Support (E SaaS and Z)
10% 7%
Support Offerings – Extended Support (X)
Support Offerings – SL Sustained Support (Y)
Requirements (checks made at eligibility check)
Business Partner of Record (BPR) for Subscription License Renewal is
BPR BPR
temporarily not required (planned to be re-implemented during 2024)
not required not required
Deal Registration Approval is NOT required for Subscription License Renewal
Limited to quantities Limited to quantities
Part type quantity
previously sold previously sold
Customer is located
Select Territory Accelerator
within Select Territory
Associated to the
Proficiency Badges
Proficiency Group

An opportunity can be eligible for one or both incentives.

Check BPR definition | Check quantity definition
Check revenue stream codes eligibility for group 2B (Subscription License, SL Sustained Support, Advanced and
Extended Support)
These Subscription License Renewals rates are also applied to Subscription License auto-renewals
SL Sustained Support, Extended and Advanced support will earn 10% Select Territory and 7% proficiency
regardless of license type.

Summary of all incentives for Subscription License Upgrade

Select Territory Proficiency
Subscription License Upgrade Accelerator Incentive

Subscription License Upgrade 10% 7%

Requirements (checks made at eligibility check)

Deal Registration Approval is required for Subscription License Upgrade Deal Registration Deal Registration
Business Partner of Records is NOT required for Subscription License Upgrade Required Required

Customer is located
Select Territory Accelerator
within Select Territory
Associated to the
Proficiency Badges
Proficiency Group

An opportunity can be eligible for one or both incentives.

Check revenue stream codes eligibility for group 2B (Subscription License Upgrade)

Group 2C: SaaS Renewal: Renewals made to SaaS products are in this category.
And the incentives components are:

2024 IBM Partner Plus Sales Incentive Program Guide for Business Partners – V5.2 14
 1. Base Sales Incentive: is a base incentive for partners with Business Partner of Record status. In renewals
there is no need to have a deal registration approved. It’s limited to quantities previously sold.
2. Select Territory Accelerator: additional incentive to Business Partner of Record if the customer is within
the Select Territory (partner account). It’s limited to quantities previously sold.
3. Proficiency Incentive: additional incentive to Business Partner of Record if partner has the required
badges (1 tech + 1 sales for the same individual) by Proficiency Group. It’s limited to quantities previously
sold.

Summary of all incentives for products being purchased as Renewal for SaaS
Base Sales Select Territory
SaaS Renewal Incentive Accelerator
Proficiency Incentive

SaaS Renewal 3% 8% 7%

Requirements (checks made at eligibility check)

Business Partner of Record for SaaS renewal is temporarily
BPR BPR BPR
not required
not required not required not required
Deal Registration Approval is NOT required for SaaS renewal
Limited to quantities Limited to quantities Limited to quantities
Part type quantity
previously sold previously sold previously sold
Customer is located
Select Territory Accelerator
within Select Territory
Associated to the
Proficiency Badges
Proficiency Group

An opportunity can be eligible for one, two or all three incentives.

Check BPR definition
Check quantity definition
Check revenue stream codes eligibility for group 2C (SaaS Renewal)

The renew client lifecycle stage should start when the end user customer’s contract for installed XaaS offering(s)
are within 180 days of their contract extension or termination date. In this stage, you can use the platform IBM
PS360 to identify contracts coming up for extension/renewal and take the steps needed to renew the client’s
contract.
It is critical to the success of an extension/renewal or even the entire recurring revenue stream that you are
proactively engaged in all prior lifecycle stages. If the client has not adopted, or is not fully utilizing the solution,
there is limited to no chance of an extension/renewal.
The Sales Incentive for SaaS is applicable to transactions where Business Partner has been identified as the
Business Partner of record for the same offering.

Group 2D: Technology Lifecycle Services (TLS) Renew On-Time and Warranty Exit Coverage: the TLS renew
on time and warranty exit coverage incentive is to reward eligible Business Partners based on renewals and
warranty exits made “On Time”. To qualify for “On Time”, the renewal or warranty exit must be closed on or prior
to the component expiration date.
The incentives components are:
4. Base Sales Incentive: is a base incentive for partners with Business Partner of Record status. Incentive is
paid if the renewal or warranty exit coverage is made on or prior to the end of the component or warranty
expiration date. Deal Registration approval is required.

2024 IBM Partner Plus Sales Incentive Program Guide for Business Partners – V5.2 15
 5. Proficiency Incentive: additional incentive to Business Partner of Record if partner has the required
badges (1 tech + 1 sales for the same individual) by Proficiency Group.

Summary of all incentives for products being purchased as TLS On Time Renewal and Warranty Exit Coverage:

TLS Renewal Base Sales Incentive Proficiency Incentive

TLS On-Time Renewal and Warranty Exit Coverage 1.75% 0.25%

Deal Registration Approval is required for TLS Deal Registration Deal Registration
renewal Business Partner of Record for TLS Required Required
renewal and warranty exit is required. BPR required BPR required

Associated to the
Proficiency Badges
Proficiency Group
An opportunity can be eligible for one or both incentives.

Eligible criteria for the TLS Distributor Renew On Time and Warranty Exit Capture Incentives:
• Renewals: eligible contracts include component renewals that expire on or after September 1, 2024 with
an active deal registration. This includes SWMA.
• Warranty Exit Coverage: eligible contracts with warranty expiration dates on or after September 1, 2024
with an active deal registration.
• Contracts must be registered via Conga/iERP with standard billing and must have Tier 2 Reseller
information included.

The following are NOT Eligible:

• Contracts with non-standard billing (requiring special requests to Quote to Cash. For example, Cash on
Delivery payment terms)
• Contracts registered via CFTS
• The following countries are not eligible: Brazil, Bolivia, Mexico, Paraguay, Venezuela, Korea

The renew client lifecycle stage should start when the end user customer’s contract for TLS offering(s) are within
180 days of their contract extension or termination date. In this stage, automated deal registration occurs 180
days prior to component expiration for renewal contracts and warranty exits that exclusively contain eligible
services. The Tier 2 reseller of record becomes the opportunity owner of the renewal transaction. Deal
registrations can be viewed in Partner Portal.
It is critical to the success of an extension/renewal or even the entire recurring revenue stream that you are
proactively engaged in all prior lifecycle stages.
The TLS Renew On Time and Warranty Exit Coverage incentive is applicable to transactions where Business
Partner has been identified as the Business Partner of record for the same offering.

2024 IBM Partner Plus Sales Incentive Program Guide for Business Partners – V5.2 16
3. Trade Ups and Reinstatement (Software)
A Trade up is when an end user customer chooses to trade-up a technology to perpetual license. A Reinstatement
is sold to re-activate lapsed S&S. The products eligible for this group of incentives are defined in the Deal
Registration Product Groups and supporting information are eligible in the Appendix B – Products Revenue Stream
codes.

The incentives components are:

1. Select Territory Accelerator: additional incentive to partners with an approved deal registration, if the
customer is located within Select Territory (partner account). It’s limited to quantities previously sold.
2. Proficiency Incentive: additional incentive to partners with an approved deal registration and if they have
the required badges (1 tech + 1 sales for the same individual) by Proficiency Group for the approved deal
registration group. It’s limited to quantities previously sold.

Summary of all incentives for products being purchased as Trade Up and Reinstatement
Select Territory Proficiency
Trade Up and Reinstatement Accelerator Incentive

Trade Up and Reinstatement 10% 7%

Requirements (checks made at eligibility check)

Deal Registration is required for Trade Up and Reinstatement Deal Registration Deal Registration
Business Partner of Records is NOT required for Trade Up and Reinstatement Required Required

Limited to quantities Limited to quantities

Part type quantity
previously sold previously sold
Customer is located
Select Territory Accelerator
within Select Territory
Associated to the
Proficiency Badges
Proficiency Group

An opportunity can be eligible for one, two or all the tree incentives.
Check quantity definition
Check revenue stream codes eligibility for group 3A (Trade Ups and Reinstatement)

2024 IBM Partner Plus Sales Incentive Program Guide for Business Partners – V5.2 17
Summary of all incentives
Select
Recommended Value Seller Base Sales Proficiency
New License and Products Margin to BPs Preferred Pricing Incentive
Territory
Incentive
Accelerator
Deal registration required

New Software On Premise

2% Up to 15% 3% 13% 7%
(includes Monthly License)

New SaaS 2% Up to 15% 3% 13% 7%

New Subscription License 1% Up to 15% 3% 14% 7%

IBM Cloud (new and renewal) 2% - 4% 6% -

Per
Storage and Power Distributor Up to 15% 1% 1.5% 1.2%
agreement
Up to 20%
LinuxONE 20% 1% 1.5% 1.2%
(by special bid)
Per
TLS Expert Care (Advanced &
Distributor Up to 15% 1% 1.5% 1.2%
Premium)
agreement

Renewals

Subscription & Support (S&S) Recommended Value Seller Base Sales Renew
-
and S&S Sustained Support Margin to BPs Preferred Pricing Incentive on Time

BPR not
Paid to BPR
required

Non-select Territory 2%
1% - 2% -
(IBM account)

Select Territory 4%
1% - 3% -
(BP account)

Select
Subscription License, SaaS, Recommended Value Seller Base Sales Proficiency
Territory
Trade Up and Reinstatement Margin to BPs Preferred Pricing Incentive Incentive
Accelerator

BPR not required

Subscription License Renewal

Advanced Support
1% - - 10% 7%
Extended Support
SL Sustained Support

SaaS Renewal 2% - 3% 8% 7%

Deal registration required

Subscription License Upgrade 1% - - 10% 7%

Trade Up and Reinstatement 2% - - 10% 7%

2024 IBM Partner Plus Sales Incentive Program Guide for Business Partners – V5.2 18
 Technology Lifecycle Services Value Seller Select
Recommended Base Sales Proficiency
(TLS) On Time Renewal and Preferred Territory
Margin to BPs Incentive Incentive
Warranty Exit Coverage Pricing Accelerator
Deal registration required
TLS On Time Renewal and Per Distributor
- 1.75% - 0.25%
Warranty Exit Coverage agreement

E – Incentive eligibility
Eligibility of Base Sales Incentive, Select Territory Accelerator and Proficiency Incentive will be displayed in IBM
Partner Portal at time of deal registration within the Incentives tab. The Business Partner’s Preferred Distributor
can view their respective partner’s incentive eligibility in Partner Portal as well. Email notifications will no longer
be sent at time of approval.
Actual incentives earned are based on requirements achieved with program guidelines being met, part
numbers being eligible for the incentive, and customer number included on the sales order, which may be different
from what was provided when the opportunity was approved/displayed in IBM Partner Portal.
For Software, the part numbers and customer need to be included in the transaction when the deal is
closed/invoiced by IBM to be eligible for the partner to earn the incentive. For Infrastructure, the type/model and
customer need to be included in the transaction when the deal is firm (firm order) and invoiced by IBM (shipped
to the partner) must be eligible for the partner to earn the incentive. For TLS, the Tier 2 Reseller information must
be included in the registered contract in Conga/iERP.
Important information: If the quote from IBM to Distributor is marked as a renewal quote, the order is eligible
for renewal incentives, even if Deal Registration is approved.

Timing for eligibility check

If the Opportunity was approved as a non-GOE end user at time of deal registration, IBM will recheck the end user
designation at time of invoice. If the end user designation remains as non-GOE, then the Partner Plus Incentive
are calculated at the part/product group level and the amount associated with the sales order are set aside to be
paid as a backend rebate to the Business Partner.

If the end user is determined to be a Government Owned Entity (GOE) end user at the time of invoice the incentive
will be paid to the partner’s Preferred Distributor. The Business Partner must connect directly with their Preferred
Distributor to obtain the applicable incentives. All Unknown customer designations will default to GOE. The actual
discount a Reseller/Systems Integrator receives from a Distributor, if any, is determined solely by the Distributor
and not IBM.

The validation of your payment claim will be initiated at time of invoice (when IBM creates an invoice to the
Distributor).

For Software, if multi-year orders with annual billing are placed against a single opportunity number, prior to
expiration date, all applicable incentives for future billings will be processed based on incentive eligibility status
at time of first transaction. Example: If Proficiency eligibility status changes from time of initial billing and from
time of second billing, whatever the status was at time of initial billing is what incentives will be paid against.
For Software New Licenses and Infrastructure
a. Software New License and Infrastructure (Power, Storage, Linux and TLS): the incentive payment
validation is performed based on checks against the IBM Sales Order Date for GOE and non-GOE
transactions

2024 IBM Partner Plus Sales Incentive Program Guide for Business Partners – V5.2 19
 b. Proficiency badges must be achieved before the order is submitted to IBM; i.e. Proficiency Badge
completion date/time must be prior to the IBM Sales Order date/time recorded in IBM ordering systems

For Software Renewals and auto-Renewals, eligibility consider the following dates for incentives in SaaS and
Subscription License:
c. SaaS: the incentive eligibility is determined at time of invoice (when IBM creates an invoice to the
Distributor) based on the start date of the renewal. This eligibility is locked throughout the lifetime of the
renewal period.

d. Subscription License: the incentive eligibility is determined at time of invoice (when IBM creates an
invoice to the Distributor) based on the renewal order date. This eligibility is locked throughout the
lifetime of the renewal period.
Software examples of eligibility check:
1. Example 1: A SaaS or a Subscription License renewal closed for two years (multi-year) with annual billings
will be paid according to the eligibility checked on the renewal order date (same rate for the entire period).
2. Example 2: A Subscription License closed for two years with annual billings will be paid according to the
eligibility checked on the renewal order date (same rate for the entire two-year period). For an auto-
renewal, if the part type becomes ineligible, the incentive will not be eligible.
3. Example 3: A SaaS auto-renewal with monthly/ quarterly billings will be paid according to the eligibility
checked on the start date of the renewal (same rate for the entire period). If a part type becomes ineligible
at time of auto-renewal, the incentive will not be eligible.

Review Process
Each line item on the sales order, that has an opportunity number listed will be reviewed against the eligible Deal
Registration Product Groups on the opportunity. If the sales order line item contains an eligible part number for
the incentives and is included in the eligible Deal Registration Product Group, then that sales order line item will
“match” the product group and it will be included in the payment calculation for that Product Group.

In some cases, a Product Group will not have any sales order line items that “match” the Eligible Product Group.
If this is the case, no payment can be generated for that Product Group. IBM also checks that each sales order
line item has not been processed for payment in another Deal Registration. If so, that line item will not be included
in the payment calculation for that Product Group. If all the sales order line items which “match” a particular
Product Group have been processed for payment in another Deal Registration, then that Product Group is not
payable.

The final step in the payment review process is that IBM will review the dates and other information in both the
sales order and the opportunity to ensure that all the business rules are met. If one of these business rules is not
met, then the overall deal registration status of the opportunity will be set to Not Payable.

Software Managing Renewals with additional quantity (“Add-ons” or expansion)

The Partner Plus Sales Program recognizes a NEW Subscription License (SL) or SaaS purchase (commonly referred
to as "Add-ons" or expansion) differently than a renewal. Incentive rates applied to a quote will vary based on the
purchase type.

Opportunities should not contain both New (Add-ons or expansion) and Renewal part types. Part types being
purchased for the first time (NEW/Add-ons/expansion) are eligible for deal registration and are required to be
quoted separately from renewal part numbers. Deal registration is not required for SL or SaaS renewals. All
Renewal part numbers should be processed on a separate quote.

2024 IBM Partner Plus Sales Incentive Program Guide for Business Partners – V5.2 20
If an order is submitted with both New (Add-ons or expansion) and Renewal part numbers, Renewal incentives
rates will be applied across the entire quote.

F - Products and Services

Product eligibility for each category is defined below. Product information is also constantly updated at: Deal
Registration Group tables showing new incentives and eligibility by part type (for Software products) and by
machine type (for Infrastructure products), and eligibility by components (for TLS products). These tables have
been updated to reflect the new program incentives.
For Software, eligible revenue is restricted as follows: Sales to End Users within the Reseller and Distributor’s
geographic scope will count towards the eligible revenue - This may vary by Geography. It is not required that all
parties are in the Distributor’s own country (read more about cross border terms).
If new licenses are sold in place of a renewal against existing entitlements on an active renewal, new licenses
incentives will not be paid.
New & Renewal Apptio SaaS products are not eligible for Base Sales Incentive. These parts can be identified by
a “Yes” in a column titled SaaS Aptio on the SaaS tab of the SW and SaaS Product Table
Products for PSP (Primary Support Provider) for Business Partner are not eligible in this Partner Plus Program.
There is a special program for Business Partners (read here) with specific details, order processing and overall
operational information.
Additional eligibility details and revenue stream codes can be read in the Appendix B.

Important: revenue identified from sales under the following formats will follow this eligibility table:
Infrastructure (type/model)
Partner Plus sales incentives Software (part type)
Purchase format
(TLS,Power, Storage, LinuxONE only) Partner Plus sales incentives

[INTERNAL USE] Purchases of Infrastructure opportunities for its Software opportunities for a
products for internal use within own company usage are eligible for Partner’s usage are not eligible
Business Partner operations Partner Plus sales incentives. for incentives. We recommend
(order identified when the that the partner raise the
Business Partner and End User requirement with the business
are the same company at the deal unit and ask for a special bid with
registration). special conditions.

[DEMO] Products purchased for Infrastructure purchases for Demos Software Demo opportunities are
Demonstration or Development must follow the program outlined at: not eligible for incentives. We
Use (order identified when the ibm.biz/HWDemoProgram and are recommend that the partner raise
Business Partner and End User eligible for Partner Plus sales the requirement with the
are the same company at the deal incentives. business unit and ask for a
registration). special bid with special
conditions.

2024 IBM Partner Plus Sales Incentive Program Guide for Business Partners – V5.2 21
 [MSP] Managed Service Provider Infrastructure MSP opportunities are Software MSP opportunities are
– when the Business Partner eligible for Partner Plus sales not eligible for incentives.
retains title of the system and incentives.
resell as a service

[ESA] Products purchased from Infrastructure ESA opportunities are Software sold under the
an IBM Distributor by an ESA BP not eligible for Partner Plus sales Embedded Solution Agreement
under the terms of the IBM incentives. (ESA) revenue is calculated to the
Embedded Solution Agreement. Tech Broker’s and managed by
(ESA) them. Therefor these
opportunities are not eligible for
Tech Partners under the Partner
Plus sales incentives.
[Marketplaces] Products Not applicable - Infrastructure Software products sold via
purchased from through a opportunities are not sold via marketplaces have their prices
Marketplace (required that a marketplaces. defined upfront and therefore are
partner has a CMR Agreement) not eligible under the Partner
Plus sales incentives.

Whenever a payment of incentives or other invoice adjustments have been made in error, IBM has the right to
recover such payments from Business Partners either directly or indirectly via Distributors. Check Payment
Adjustment section.

G - Ordering and Claiming

Preferred Distributors are responsible for claiming the incentives for Business Partners by including the
opportunity number on their Purchase Order to IBM for respective parts/products being claimed.
For Infrastructure the opportunity number will be retrieved from the bid. There is no manual work needed.
For Software, the opportunity number must be provided at the part number level. With this number, IBM will
automatically trigger its payment process and validation of incentives. It’s important that partners provide the
correct full case sensitive opportunity number from IBM Partner Portal to their Distributor to ensure eligibility
checks are done to the correct opportunity. Wrong opportunity number or incorrect case sensitive format will
impact the payment process and may incur in a wrong classification of eligibility.
This process of including the opportunity number in the order should also be used for trade ups, reinstatements,
and Subscription License upgrades, as those purchase options also require a deal registration approved in IBM
Partner Portal.
For renewals (Subscription License Renewals, S&S renewals, SaaS renewals) there is no need to create deal
registrations as the opportunity is already tracked in IBM systems, Passport Advantage online (PAO). In this case
being the Business Partner of Record will trigger the payment process.
For SaaS mid-term Expansion orders, the opportunity number from the original order will need to be on the
Purchase order to IBM for Buy-More and Add-on parts/products. If the original opportunity number cannot be
identified, then a new opportunity is needed.

2024 IBM Partner Plus Sales Incentive Program Guide for Business Partners – V5.2 22
For all products the Sales Order Date, Charge Agreement Date or Subscription Agreement Date is prior to the
Opportunity Expiration Date.

Learn more about Claiming Incentives.

H - Payment Process
The following describes how IBM issues payment for Business Partner Incentives.

Standard Payment options

a. Instant Incentive (GOE): for all Software, Power, Storage, LinuxONE and Technology Lifecycle Services
GOE transactions, after the invoice is issued as instant incentive. This payment is a credit memo, invoice
or added as incremental discount depending on the country operation paid to the Preferred Distributor.

b. Backend Incentives (non-GOE)

Software* non-GOE transactions are paid directly to the Business Partners based on country terms (via
Invoice, Electronic Funds Transfer, or Check), in monthly cycles. For software the start of the payment
process (invoice request to the Partner / initiation of payment claim) will happen in the month following the
invoiced end customer transaction. These payment terms apply to all Software products: On Premise,
SaaS, Subscription License, Trade ups and Reinstatement.

Infrastructure (Power, Storage, LinuxONE and Technology Lifecycle Services) non-GOE transactions are
paid directly to the Business Partners based on country terms (via Invoice, Electronic Funds Transfer, or
Check) in quarterly payment cycles. However, in certain geographies, this payment might be via the
Preferred Distributor and re-passed to the Business Partners. To ensure compliance with local tax
requirements in each of the countries, different billing and payment processes apply. Check country
specific payments for details on this process.
c. Subscription and Support Renewals Incentives (GOE and non-GOE): Subscription and Support (S&S)
incentives are paid as an instant discount as a credit memo paid to the Preferred Distributor. The actual
payment the Business Partner receives from a Distributor is determined solely by the Distributor and not
IBM.

d. Payments made to Alliance Companies: In case a partner has an Alliance Company contract, incentive
will follow a different program and payments will be made as credit note directly to the company for all
situations: GOE and non-GOE accounts and for all Software, Power, Storage, LinuxONE and Technology
Lifecycle Services.

For GCG (Software and Infrastructure): For Non-GE, Backend credit note will be paid to Business Partner’s
Preferred Distributor. The actual payment the Business Partner receives from a Distributor is determined solely
by the Distributor and not IBM.

Read country specific terms and conditions at appendix C.

2024 IBM Partner Plus Sales Incentive Program Guide for Business Partners – V5.2 23
Price used by IBM to calculate incentives:
a) Power, Storage, LinuxONE and TLS Expert Care incentives are paid against an Estimated Reseller Price
(which is the Distributor invoice price plus an uplift to estimate margins shared with the partners that are
not disclosed to IBM). This will probably be different from the partner invoice price managed by the
Distributor.

b) Software incentives are paid on the Value Seller Price (shown within PGS and included in the quote sent
to the Distributor) or the Special Bid Price (shown within PGS and included in the quote sent to the
Distributor).

Incentive Dashboard
Now available to Business Partners: an incentive dashboard with multiple filters and export capability that helps
partners to understand their estimated earned incentives. With this report, it’s possible to make customer
segment analysis, identify areas of investments and follow incentive payments made by IBM. Learn more here.

Timeline of payments
In situations where invoice / bank form is requested from the Business Partner, the soft copy via email, or hard
copy delivered to IBM where applicable, is expected within 60 days from the date that the Business Partner
receives an e-mail from IBM requesting the document.

If no soft/hard copy invoice / bank form is received by requested date, IBM will close the payment claim as not
payable. Business Partners can re-open payment request up to 180 days from date they received the initial e-mail
from IBM requesting the document.

IBM will not accept the invoice / bank form if it is issued / delivered electronically or physically to IBM more than
180 days after IBM sends the initial document request.

The IBM disbursement payment process and timeline will adhere to IBM’s standard invoice payment terms.

Incentive payment processing

IBM will recheck the end user designation at time of invoice or renewal start date/ order date (according to
incentive eligibility section) and will confirm eligibility to incentives that will be calculated at the product group
level. The incentives associated with the sales order are then paid, in a consolidation of incentives. If the customer
account designation changes from non-GOE to GOE at time of invoice (when IBM creates an invoice to the
Distributor), the incentive payment will be made to the Business Partner’s Preferred Distributor.

For specific LA countries (Bolivia and Paraguay), where invoices are required for incentive payment (Software only,
Non-GOE and GOE) and there is not a local IBM branch office, the Backend credit note will be paid to Business
Partner’s Preferred Distributor. The actual payment the Business Partner receives from a Distributor is determined
solely by the Distributor and not IBM.

A. Incentive Payment for GOE end user transactions.

For GOE end user transactions, the payment is made near instant incentives paid to the Preferred Distributor as a
credit note. The Business Partner must connect directly with their Preferred Distributor to obtain the applicable
incentives.

2024 IBM Partner Plus Sales Incentive Program Guide for Business Partners – V5.2 24
Business Partners should work with their Preferred Distributor to receive incentives. The actual incentive a partner
receives from a Distributor, if any, is determined solely by the Distributor and not IBM.

If the customer account designation changes from non-GOE to GOE at time of invoice (when IBM creates an
invoice to the Distributor), the incentive payment will be made to the Business Partner’s Preferred Distributor.

B. Incentive Payment Processing for non-GOE end user transactions.

For non-GOE end user transactions, the incentives are collected (set aside) and paid to the Business Partner. This
process will follow the payment methodology according to each local disbursement team.

This payment process will be monthly direct to the Business Partners for Software transactions (in some
geographies this payment might be quarterly) and will be quarterly direct to the Business Partners for
Infrastructure transactions (in some geographies this payment might be via the Preferred Distributor and re-
passed to the Business Partners).

For Software, payments will be made by check or Electronic Funds Transfer. Payments will be made in the local
currency for the country. In order to receive IBM Software Incentive for New License incentives, Business Partners
must provide IBM with any necessary information needed (i.e., bank transfer number or invoice to IBM) for IBM
to make payments to them.

C. Raising inquiries about payments:

Business Partners have 60 calendar days from the date they receive the document that shows their Base Sales
Incentive, Select Territory Accelerator, and Proficiency Incentive non-GOE payment to raise any inquiries about
the payment. Inquiries should be submitted if Business Partners have reason to suspect that payment does not
correlate with the agreed incentives.

Inquiries must be formally submitted to IBM, sending an e-mail to Disbursement Payment Team.

The inquiry must include the following information:

a. Business Partner Company’s Name
b. Contact Person’s Name and E-mail Address
c. A description of the payment discrepancy or error, including the IBM opportunity number, IBM sales
order number, sales order date and end user customer name.
d. Documentation showing how partner came to this conclusion/ calculation.
e. Personalize the subject with the following “Inquiry on 20XX IBM Software/ Infrastructure/ Technology
Lifecycle Services Incentives Payment - “Partner/Distributor Company Name”.

IBM will review Business Partner inquiries and respond in writing, via e-mail, within 30 calendar days from the
date we receive a request that is complete, as specified above. If a Business Partner is entitled to a higher
payment, then an adjustment payment will be made. If a Business Partner was overpaid, IBM will provide
information on how repayment should be made to IBM.

D. Manual Review process for Business Partner of Records

S&S incentives will be paid as an instant incentive in the majority of situations. For situations where the part
number renewal is not available in the existing quote in the Passport Advantage Online (PAO), the Business
Partner must use a manual process to confirm the Business Partner of Records prior to receiving pricing from the
Distributor; after the order is placed, the Distributor needs to claim the incentive. Please note that if the quote
information is not available on PAO, then the incentive will not pay automatically. There is one exception to
this rule: in the situation where the End User is purchasing renewals up front. For example, in the situation where
they buy “new” licenses/appliances and out year renewals on the same order or in the situation where they add
additional renewal years when purchasing renewals on a renewal quote.

2024 IBM Partner Plus Sales Incentive Program Guide for Business Partners – V5.2 25
This process has two steps, described below, and may also be used to inquire about the accuracy of the renew
quantity.

This is a time sensitive process. As a guideline, a request must be submitted into IBM a minimum of 30 days prior
to the renewal line item start date on which the Business Partner wishes to be paid the incentive to ensure IBM can
provide validation of eligibility. The request must be made prior to placing the Sales Order.

Step 1: Business Partner is responsible for checking the following conditions:

1. Business Partners need to check their Passport Advantage Online (PAO) renewal download to ensure their
eligibility (Yes or No) has not already been communicated by IBM.
2. Business Partners must review the list of exclusions (here) and validate that the Sales Quote does not
reflect one of these situations. These do not qualify.
3. Business Partners need to validate that they sold the renewal parts the last year and qualify as the
Business Partner of Records.

Step 2: If above conditions are met, Business Partner and Distributor must agree on who will complete the
following process: Manual Review process.

Payment adjustments
Incentives and Pricing are subject to adjustments, which may be necessary due to errors or other invoice
adjustments. An example of an adjustment would be a transaction which resulted in eligible sales order line items
totaling a Transaction Value of $15,000 USD during second quarter and is repaid to IBM in the fourth quarter. A
resulting adjustment will be made based on the recalculated second quarter sales order line-item revisions.

IBM will periodically review previously eligible incentives transactions to determine if there have been any IBM
invoice adjustments, overpayments or underpayments in error that have occurred which would result in an
adjustment to a Business Partner. If IBM determines (in IBM’s sole discretion) that the Business Partner has been
overpaid, IBM will request repayment of the overpaid incentives and/or adjust future eligible payments.

Whenever a payment of incentives or other invoice adjustments have been made in error, IBM has the right to
recover such payments from Business Partners either directly or indirectly via Distributors. Business Partners may
be advised to repay IBM directly or IBM may reinvoice the Distributor. If reinvoiced to the Distributor, the
Distributor will then need to reissue the order using the corrected pricing and repay IBM. In the case of repayment
back to IBM, the repayment amount and directions for repayment will be specified by IBM.

If the Business Partner refuses to repay the unearned incentive, then IBM may suspend the Business Partner from
the program until the time that that Business Partner pays back the unearned incentive.

IBM has 180 calendar days from the date that the incentive payment was issued to raise a requirement of
adjustments to the Business Partner or Distributor.

I - The sales journey

1. Build your expertise

Badges are not required to become an IBM Ecosystem Partner, companies may apply, be approved and start
working and then start investing in expertise growth. Skills are not required to register deals. Skills will still be

2024 IBM Partner Plus Sales Incentive Program Guide for Business Partners – V5.2 26
required to earn and receive incentives. Each Proficiency product group has 1 sales foundation badge and 1
technical badge.

2. Get investment protection

All partners will have access to Value Seller pricing for Software and Power and Storage. Registering a deal is the
way to get additional discounted Value Seller Preferred Pricing. All Business Partners are eligible for Value Seller
Market Price for Software and Power and Storage. Partners with an approved deal registration will be eligible for
special bid preferred pricing for LinuxONE (Value Seller Pricing is not available). The first qualified Business
Partner to register an opportunity will be eligible to receive Preferred Pricing and Incentives.
Check the deal registration program.
Business Partners who are the Primary Relationship Contact (PRC) and the Opportunity Management Focal (OM
Focal) for their firms can create opportunity records in Partner Portal. The partner's Business Partner
Administrator (BP Admin) determines who from their firm has access to the Portal and type of access (edit or view
only) for each user.

3. Start working on value seller quotes

Resellers will be able to get a price in PGS (Software), receive a recommended price with which they will work
with their Distributors to determine earnings (costs and margins). For Infrastructure, ePricer is available to the
Resellers in North America. ePricer is available to the Distributors across all other geographies. Although ePricer
is available all Special Bids are issued to the Distributor or Reseller/Systems Integrators buying directly from IBM.

4. Get new license incentives

To receive your incentives, the Distributor needs to include the opportunity number in the sales order. This will
trigger incentives validation and payment (new process for Infrastructure**). Opportunity number must be in
correct Mixed Case Format and include first 15 characters of Opportunity number.
* Incentives are eligible only if BP places an order with their preferred Distributor (Preferred Distributor for TLS
Expert Care incentives should be aligned to the Power/Storage Preferred Distributor).
** For Power, Storage, LinuxONE and Technology Lifecycle Services the opportunity number will be retrieved from
the bid.

5. Get renewal quoting to clients (only for Software)

To be able to get a renewal in Passport Advantage the partner needs to be the Business Partner of Record. With
this title, Distributors can verify the Business Partner’s eligibility at the part level, for the coverage period and the
eligible quantities and if applicable, includes renew Base Sales Incentive in the quote.

6. Get renewal incentives (only for Software)

For renewals, the Business Partner with a Business Partner of Records title will be eligible for incentives. To
calculate the incentives the partner needs to confirm if it has achieved other requirements (ex. customer is located
within Select Territory, proficiency skills aligned to deal registration groups).
* Incentives are eligible only if BP places the order with preferred Distributor.

2024 IBM Partner Plus Sales Incentive Program Guide for Business Partners – V5.2 27
J - Work with your Distributor
IBM operates a Preferred Distributor model: each Business Partner (BP or “partner”) must select a Preferred
Distributor as part of its Partner Profile when the BP signs an IBM Business Partner Agreement (BPA). IBM
recommends that partners select the same Preferred Distributor for all brands (Software, Power, Storage,
LinuxONE and IBM Technology Lifecycle Services (TLS), but the partner may choose different Preferred
Distributors to conduct business for different IBM brands. Your company will select a Preferred Distributor during
the application process in IBM Partner Plus Profile System. This selection should be made carefully as there are
restrictions to making changes if error is made, as noted below. This selection must be made before any order is
placed. If you need assistance, please contact the local Business Partner Contract Management team (BPCM).

Only purchases made from the Preferred Distributor identified in IBM partner profile will be counted towards
incentives for both the Distributor and for the Reseller or Systems Integrator. Preferred Distributor for TLS Expert
Care incentives should be aligned to the Power/Storage Preferred Distributor. IBM Preferred Distributors shall
have sole discretion in determining the amount (if any) of incentives to the Reseller. Resellers should discuss the
incentives directly with their Distributor as discounts may vary.

If a partner elects to change its Preferred Distributor, the change will be made in the partner’s profile and the
following terms will apply for quarterly incentives associated with revenue generated by the partner reselling IBM
certain offerings.

If the relationship between IBM and the Preferred Distributor is terminated, the required 30-day notice to change
Distributors in a traditional process (described below) do not apply. All other requirements remain in place.

If a Business Partner is acquired by another Business Partner, the Preferred Distributor for the acquiring partner
becomes the Distributor for the acquired partner. The Business Partner will submit information (M&A form) on
the acquisition when requested by IBM. Once this Business Partner notifies IBM of an acquisition and provides
the required information, IBM will move the acquired partner profile under the acquiring partner’s profile, CEID#
and Distributor as quickly as possible, and usually within 30 days. When the Business Partner notifies IBM of the
acquisition, the Business Partner must also notify the Distributor of the partner being acquired that this partner
will be moving to the acquiring BP’s Distributor.

Preferred Distributor change

A new IBM Business Partner may elect to change its Preferred Distributor after the first commitment term, specific
to each IBM brand (Software, Power, Storage, and LinuxONE) in the partner’s Business Partner Agreement (BPA).
A BP commits to transacting through its Preferred Distributor through the first commitment term -- 24 months in
North America and 12 months in all other countries.

A Business Partner must request a change to its Preferred Distributor through the IBM partner profile, by the
Business Partner Administrator (BP Admin) at the Headquarter location following these steps and MUST notify
the “old distributor” before requesting the change to a new Preferred Distributor. Also, both companies, the
Business Partner and the newly designated Preferred Distributor, must respond to an e-mail that will be sent by
the Business Partner Contract Management (BPCM) team, accepting IBM’s terms. Attached is a copy of the e-
mail that will be used by BPCM (Software and Power, Storage, LinuxONE or TLS) in case your company needs
this information.

Once a Business Partner moves to a new Preferred Distributor after the first commitment term, the Business
Partner must complete a 12-month period with the new Distributor before requesting to move again (in all
countries). The date considered as first day of the new Distributor relationship is the effective date published in
partner profile. The effective date will also be shared by e-mail to the new Preferred Distributor and Business

2024 IBM Partner Plus Sales Incentive Program Guide for Business Partners – V5.2 28
Partner. IBM assumes that the Business Partner has notified the former Preferred Distributor before requesting
the change for a new Preferred Distributor.
A Business Partner must give 30 days’ notice to IBM for a change in Preferred Distributor. When a partner changes
its Preferred Distributor, the change in Distributor is considered effective on the first working day of the following
quarter following the 30 days’ notice period.

For example:
• Partner requests a change on August 31. If approved, the change will be considered effective on October
1 (1st day of next quarter following the 30-day notice period).
• Partner requests a change on September 5. If approved, the change will be considered effective on
January 1 (1st day of next quarter following the 30-day notice).

This means that the partner will continue to receive incentives on revenue on transactions through the “previous”
Distributor and the “previous” Distributor will remain eligible for incentives until the effective date noted in the
partner profile. The effective date for the Preferred Distributor for contractual and incentives are aligned, and both
processes are following these guidelines. Until this effective date starts, the Business Partner will maintain
responsibility for payment of Software invoices billed to them by their current Distributor (including out of cycle
billings like overages) until a new Purchase Order has been submitted by Business Partner to move subscription
orders to the New Distributor.

A partner may request a change before the first commitment term ends if the effective date of the change would
be after the first commitment term.
For example:
• Partner in EMEA has signed a contract with one distributor that will complete 12 months in September
15 and this partner wants to change its Distributor. The partner needs to give 30 days’ notice period to
IBM before the end of the quarter. The notice would be sent during the first commitment term (August
31) but if approved, it would be effective after the completion of the commitment term -- on October 1.

If there is a potential transaction through a Business Partner that had no Preferred Distributor selected in IBM
partner profile (distributor field is empty), no quarterly incentives will be paid to a Distributor on the revenue
associated with that transaction. The partner should select a Distributor before the order is placed with IBM.

All Business Partners must identify a Preferred Distributor. If the relationship between IBM and the Preferred
Distributor is terminated, the 30-day notice period to change Distributors and the requirement that the change
becomes effective only on the 1st day of the following quarter do not apply. All other requirements remain in
place.

Business Partners outside of North America may transact with a Non-Preferred Distributor within their region, but
incentives and associated fees, if applicable, will ONLY be paid on revenue associated with eligible transactions
through their Preferred Distributor. Neither the Business Partner nor the Distributor will receive incentives for
transactions that are made through a Distributor that is not designated as the Preferred Distributor in the IBM
partner profile.

Related Companies

With IBM’s approval, Related Companies may operate in IBM’s Ecosystem program under one or multiple CEID
numbers. IBM will only pay incentives when the Distributor, Business Partner, and End User Customer are all
unrelated and independent entities. IBM will recover rebates if evidence is found of rebates being paid on revenue
that does not meet these criteria.

2024 IBM Partner Plus Sales Incentive Program Guide for Business Partners – V5.2 29
K - General Terms
1. Business Partner must have a Partner Plus™ membership and BPA signed with IBM to be eligible for all
incentives described in this program guide.
2. The IBM Business Partner Agreement can be found at; https://ibm.biz/JoinIBM. This page also has a detailed
step by step application guide.
3. A “Business Partner” is defined under the IBM Business Partner Agreement as an entity with a valid IBM
Business Partner Agreement in one or more of the countries listed as eligible countries.
4. ‘Business Partner’ is used informally and does not imply a legal partnership, its use is in accordance with the
terms of the IBM Business Partner Agreement. ‘You’ refers to ‘your company’ in this document.
5. An order can be eligible for incentives where Distributor, Reseller/Systems Integrator and End User are all in
the Distributor’s geographic scope as defined in the BPA. In some countries, it is not required that all parties
are in the Distributor’s own country. Read more about cross border terms.
6. If there are problems with the enrollment process, including inability to print terms and conditions, or a lost
confirmation number, the Business Partner should contact the Partner Support Desk.
7. Business Partners must select a Preferred Distributor during the IBM Business Partner Agreement (BPA)
application process.
8. In some counties, Resellers and Systems Integrators may acquire Products and Services from any IBM
authorized Distributor within their region, however incentives, if applicable, will ONLY be paid on qualifying
Products and Services acquired from their Preferred Distributor. Preferred Distributor for TLS Expert Care
incentives follows the aligned Power/Storage Preferred Distributor.
9. Business Partners who signed the Global Systems Integrators (GSI) contract can participate in this incentive
program.
10. Transactions which are executed under Marketing Assist Base Terms are not eligible for incentives included
in this guide.
11. These incentives are in addition to any base discounts that you would normally be available and, unless
otherwise stated, can be combined with other discounts, credits or incentives available in other published
IBM promotions and incentives.
12. Incentives will be based on the value of the eligible products IBM invoices to your Preferred Distributor. IBM
has no knowledge of the actual amount you paid in any transaction.
13. For all products the Sales Order Date, Charge Agreement Date or Subscription Agreement Date is prior to the
Opportunity Expiration Date.
14. In case of any disagreement with IBM’s assessment and resulting payments (such as missing payment,
payment amount not matching BP’s calculations or unknown reason for a credit/debit), the BP should
directly contact the responsible IBM Disbursement Team within 60 days of payment (non-payment).
Thereafter the payment (non-payment) will be considered accepted on BP’s part.
IBM Disbursement Team will perform a thorough investigation on raised objection and will provide
feedback:
a) in the event that the payment was correct, they will provide details.
b) if the payment/non-payment was incorrect, the team will proceed with correction.
In order to avoid delaying IBM responding to BP’s inquiry, all questions should be directed to the IBM
Disbursement Team.
15. Your attainment and resulting payment will be calculated and paid at a country level.
16. Eligible products financed by IGF and reported as sold via IBM invoiced reporting might qualify for this
program. Please contact your local IGF representative for details or visit www.ibm.com/financing.
17. If your IBM Business Partner Agreement expires or is terminated this offer is also terminated.
18. For Software, in the event of a subscription cancellation the paid unused / unearned portion of the incentive
will be recovered via your preferred Distributor. The amount recovered is determined by the dates when the
subscription was placed and when it was cancelled.

2024 IBM Partner Plus Sales Incentive Program Guide for Business Partners – V5.2 30
19. IBM reserves the right to withdraw or terminate payments on direct or third-party transactions that IBM
believes violates the IBM Business Partners agreement or Code of Conduct.
20. If IBM is made aware that an opportunity is part of a software compliance settlement deal, IBM reserves the
right not to approve the opportunity, revert the status of an approved deal registration, or recover funds.
21. If IBM is made aware that an opportunity was registered using an ineligible End User, IBM reserves the right
not to approve the opportunity, revert the status of an approved deal registration, and/or recover funds.
22. IBM reserves the right to modify or withdraw this offer at any time.
23. This offer is void wherever prohibited or restricted by law.
24. Read additional terms and conditions for specific countries in the appendix.
25. Transactional Agreement is not eligible for incentives.
26. IBM reserves the right to make no payment if the total incentive amount earned each month/quarter, or at the
respective payment cycle, is less than $250 value in local currency.

L - Definitions used in this guide

The following definitions are used in this document:
New License/Products: Business Partners can purchase new licenses for a specific amount of time (which is
defined in the contractual terms) and/or Infrastructure products. In this category we have Power, Storage,
LinuxONE, New Software On-Premise, New Subscription License (SL), New Monthly License and New SaaS are all
in this category.
Renewals (for Software): After the first entitlement period of a license ends, a partner can make a renewal. Four
groups of licenses can be renewed: Subscription and Support (S&S), Renewal Subscription License (SL), Upgrade
to Subscription License (SL) and SaaS.
Renewals (For TLS): When the component expiration date ends, a partner can make a renewal to extend and/or
modify services.
Warranty Exit Coverage: When a maintenance contract for ongoing services is signed before the warranty
expires.
Trade Ups: A partner may choose to make an upgrade to a new technology, besides renewing. In this scenario an
opportunity will migrate from an old version of products to a new version of products.
Deal Registration: is a process for Business Partners to inform IBM when they are working in a given
opportunity (Infrastructure, Software and/or TLS). This registration is made in a platform called IBM Partner
Portal where partners can manage their opportunities and special benefits for having a deal registration
approved.
Business Partner of Record: The Business Partner of Records is the Business Partner who previously sold,
either the original license, trade up or reinstatement or the renewal provided they maintain the customer
relationship and fulfil the end user’s renewal. This partner received the title of “Business Partner of Records”
(Business Partner eligible for the incentive).
Select Territory: Client definition as Select Territory is defined annually and may change according to IBM
decision.
WWID (worldwide identification) profile is a mechanism for a Business Partner that has subsidiaries in multiple
countries to be grouped as one worldwide company, sharing achieved knowledge thought-out the company.
Last Distributor means the Distributor who placed the order for the renewal or the license in the previous year.

2024 IBM Partner Plus Sales Incentive Program Guide for Business Partners – V5.2 31
On Time (Software) means the order must be submitted to IBM by the Distributor prior to the start date of the
part’s Coverage Period. The Line Item Start Date is determined by the first day in the month when the renewal
will start. As an example, if a renewal part has a start date of May 1, the renewal order must be received by IBM
no later than April 30 in order to qualify for the renewal incentive.
On Time (TLS) is when purchase order is submitted to IBM by the Distributor on or prior to the start date of the
TLS components coverage period.
Renewal / Subscription and Support refers to the renewal of Subscription & Support for a software license.
Renewal and Subscription & Support (S&S) are used interchangeably in this document.
Line item / Revenue Line item: Line items are products that you plan to sell. These can be individual items or
part of a larger group.
Opportunity: An opportunity is a possibility to sell a Solution or a product to a given end customer.
Opportunities are registered based on the sales progression, from identified through to sold or lost.
Opportunity Number: The Opportunity Number is the identifier IBM provides to the Business Partner when
they register an opportunity in Partner Portal. This Opportunity number must be included with each order for
Eligible Products that are part of the approved opportunity (GE and non-GOE).
IMPORTANT NOTE: Some quoting tools (PGS) have opportunity field limitations of 15 characters, in these cases,
list only the first 15 mixed case characters. If the Opportunity Number is not provided in the correct format, the
Sales Incentive payment to the Business Partner will not be generated.
IBM Partner Portal: Partner Portal is the opportunity registration system used by Business Partners to create
deal registrations for access to the Sales Incentives (Base Sales Incentive, Select Client Accelerator, and
Proficiency Incentive). Partner Portal allows Business Partners to identify and progress to closure new
opportunities. Business Partners may also use Partner Portal to accept passed leads from IBM Direct Sales
Representatives and make updates to those opportunity records. When Accepting a Passed Lead from IBM, the
Opportunity is automatically submitted for Deal Registration / Opportunity review/approval.
Provisioning Form (SaaS): SaaS Provisioning forms and requirements vary by offering and need to be
understood by the client to avoid delays in provisioning. The provisioning form is a document to capture the
client information needed for IBM to turn on their service, which must take place before billing occurs and
access to the service is provided.
Deal Registration Product Group: To provide comprehensive coverage, your registration for a specific revenue
line item includes a group of products. Business Partners should reference the latest online version of the
Eligible Parts List to verify the specific eligibility by part number for the Sales Incentives. Each unique Part
Number on the Eligible Parts List aligns to a single Deal Registration Product Group. The Incentives eligibility
review decision and payment claim for an opportunity is strictly based on the part number eligibility within the
approved Deal Registration Product Group. Note that the Deal Registration Product Group phrases/names used
for incentive purposes may not align or be identical to those used for the UT 30 Offerings or Product Identifier
(PID) categories on the Eligible Parts List, or those phrases/names used in IBM marketing and sales
literature/websites.
• Infrastructure products
• Software products
• Technology Lifecycle Services (TLS) products
• SaaS products

Eligible End Users: Eligible End Users must meet the definition of “End User” as included in the IBM Business
Partner Agreement.

Ineligible End Users: Software Incentives payments made in error to ineligible end users are subject to recovery.

2024 IBM Partner Plus Sales Incentive Program Guide for Business Partners – V5.2 32
 • IBM Corporation or any entity which IBM owns more than 50% is an ineligible end user for IBM Software
Incentives.
• Business Partners that acquire products from IBM directly or through a Distributor. Some exceptions
apply for Infraestructure (see Section F).
• Sales to Individuals (such as independent programmers, consultants, software developers, etc.) cannot
be submitted in Partner Portal due to data privacy restrictions on their Customer Number records, and
therefore are not eligible for Deal Registration or Incentives.

Special bid pricing: Special bid pricing is available if a BP is not able to sell the Products at the Entitled price or
the Value Seller price. Special bid pricing requires exception approval and is carefully restricted as BP’s can sell
at a lower price than provided in the Special Bid, but not a higher price. All Special Bids are subject to a audit.

Time of invoice (when IBM creates an invoice to the Distributor): When order received by IBM is invoiced to
the Distributor, which may be different than Time of Order and may be different than time when Distributor
invoices the Business Partner (e.g., Future start dates, appliance shipments, Infrastructure ship dates)

Time of Order/Transaction: When order has been received by IBM.

Value Seller Program: The Value Seller program is a price offering that provides a market-ready price information
for Software and Infrastructure to all IBM partners (i.e., one that is known to be competitive and less than entitled
price) and a preferred price for Software and Infrastructure (excluding Public Cloud and LinuxONE) to partners
that have a deal registration approved. For Software, Value Seller pricing is based on an AI model which
determines the price considering multiple factors (e.g., historical price, industry, market, client, etc.). For
Infrastructure, Value Seller pricing is based on pre-approved discounts tables by each market, also known as
exhibits. The objective of Value Seller is to provide a competitive price, quickly, limiting the need for special bids.
XaaS: a term used to describe “as-a-service” offerings.

M - Need help?
If a Business Partner needs additional assistance, they should contact their Preferred Distributor, Partner Support
Desk or using the IBM chatbot available at ibm.com/partnerplus, on the right corner under the “Let’s talk” button.

If you need help on incentive payment, please refer to the Disbursement focal points in each geography.

Disbursement Team:
Americas (North America and Latin America):
Americas New Licenses: [email protected]
Americas Renewals: [email protected]

APAC:
Asean: [email protected]
ANZ: [email protected]
Korea: [email protected]
ISA: [email protected]
GCG: [email protected]

Japan:
Software: [email protected]
Infrastructure: [email protected]

2024 IBM Partner Plus Sales Incentive Program Guide for Business Partners – V5.2 33
EMEA:
Partner Plus Software New License, SaaS and Subscription License: [email protected]
Partner Plus Software S&S: [email protected]
Partner Plus Infrastructure: [email protected]

2024 IBM Partner Plus Sales Incentive Program Guide for Business Partners – V5.2 34
N - History of revisions
History of Revisions
Description of Change Effective Date of Change
1. Same incentive framework from 2023
2. Consolidated language for Infrastructure and Technology Lifecycle Services
3. Clarification on processes that support Partner Plus (Page 18, 19 and 20) January 01, 2024
4. Clarified terms for raising payment adjustments (page 17)

1. Inclusion of IBM Cloud to Partner Plus framework of incentives

2. Inclusion of IBM Support Offerings to Partner Plus framework of incentives
3. Inclusion of additional margin to TEL offerings
4. Adjustment in Section E – Incentive Eligibility
April 8th, 2024
5. Eligibility on continuous billing for SL and SaaS renewals was removed
6. Infrastructure MES eligibility inclusion
7. Value Seller – Maximum end-use Price (MEP) was raised up

1. Inclusion of LinuxONE to Partner Plus framework of incentives

2. Margin recommendation for IBM Learning Subscription offerings
3. Reference to IBM Z OTC SW Program for SW Resellers July 1, 2024
4. Power percentages were incorrectly changed. The percentage will remain the
same as Storage.

1. Margin Alignment of Subscription License, S&S and Support Offerings in

Argentina with the rest of SSA.
2. No payment will be made if the amount earned each month/quarter or at the
respective payment cycle is less than 250 in local currency
3. Addition of Country Unique terms for Colombia
4. Adjustment in Section E - Eligibility Check
5. New Incentive - TLS On-Time Renewal and Warranty Exit Coverage
September 3, 2024
6. Clarification on processes that support Partner Plus (Page 19,23, 31, 35, 40 and
43)
7. Removal of the Transition Bonus References (Incentive expired in July 16)
8. New & Renewal Apptio SaaS products are not eligible for Base Sales Incentive
9. Until December 31st 2024, IBM is doubling the Select Territory Accelerator
Incentive (from 1.5% to 3%) for products included in Deal Registration Group
BPHWPW002 (Power Scaleout)

Local Currency Conversion

2024 IBM Partner Plus Sales Incentive Program Guide for Business Partners – V5.2 35
Calculations and payments for Partner Plus incentives are done in the currency applicable by country based on
the monthly exchange rate at time of the order. Conversion values shown within this document can be obtained
based on the currency exchange table and serve to address countries where the rebate payment is in a different
currency than the order. For countries where there is no difference in the order currency, the currency
conversion table is for informational purposes.

IBM, the IBM logo, ibm.com, IBM Software, IBM Power Systems, IBM Storage Systems, IBM z Systems and the IBM Business Partner Emblem
are trademarks or registered trademarks of International Business Machines Corporation in the United States, other countries, or both. A
current list of IBM trademarks is available on the Web at "Copyright and trademark information" at www.ibm.com/legal/copytrade.shtml. Other
company, product and service names may be trademarks or service marks of others.
© Copyright International Business Machines Corporation 2024.
All Rights Reserved

2024 IBM Partner Plus Sales Incentive Program Guide for Business Partners – V5.2 36
Appendix – Complementary information

Appendix A – Software recommended margin to adapted countries

Some countries have an adapted margin, and different recommendations for Software margins to be split between
the Distributor and Business Partner. Please discuss with your Distributor.

Software Global
Recommended Margin Standard SSA (South
GCG Japan Brazil
America)

New license on premise

SaaS (new and renewal)
SaaS BOX (new and renewal) 2% 2% 8% 10%
Software trade up and reinstatement
IBM Cloud (new and renewal)
Technology Expert Labs Service Parts

GCG have a
Technology Expert Labs
6% different 6% 6% 6%
Service Parts Accelerator* margin and
IBM don’t
recommend a
split between
Subscription License (new and Business
renewal) Partner and
1% Distributor 3% 3% 8%
Subscription & Support (S&S)
Support Offerings

IBM Learning Subscription offerings 15% 15% 15% 15%

*If a transaction includes IBM Technology Expert Labs eligible Services Parts identified at ibm.biz/TELofferings, a
6% increase will be applied at the time of the resale. The 6% margin increase is recommended to flow to the IBM
Reseller for their efforts during the presales and sales cycle. This will provide to partners increased access to
standard, pre-packaged services offerings with defined deliverables across all partner types.

2024 IBM Partner Plus Sales Incentive Program Guide for Business Partners – V5.2 37
Appendix B – Products Revenue Stream codes
1. New Licenses / Products (Software and Infrastructure)

1A - Eligibility of products to the Group: Software on premise

Product tables with the corresponding eligibility to Base Sales Incentive, Select Territory Accelerator and
Proficiency Incentive for on premise products are those with following eligible part types (revenue stream codes):

On premise New License eligible Part Types - (PAO price file)

Appliance Upgrade License plus Subscription &

Appliance with License plus initial S&S (ASLISS)
Support with HW Maintenance (ASUMHM)
Product Trade-in (TRADEIN) Monthly License (RSWMWS)
License + SW Subscription & Support HW Add-On Appliance Upgrade License plus Subscription &
(AALSS) Support without HW Maintenance (ASUNHWM)
License + SW Subscription & Support Initial Fixed Term License Subscription & Supt
(LCMNTSPT) (IFXTLM)
Initial Term License + SW Subscription & Support
License + SW Subscription & Support HW (APLSS)
(NPIFXTLM)

Eligible Software Products are those products listed in the Software Deal Registration Eligible Part
Number list which are announced and generally available for sale in the country of the end user. They are
products ordered under the Passport Advantage program, either Passport Advantage or Passport
Advantage Express. Products listed on the SW Deal Registration Eligible Part Number list which are
ordered under the IBM Business Partner Agreement – Attachment for Primary Support Provider are also
eligible.
Note that products ordered under Flexible Contract Terms (FCT) are not eligible for the IBM Partner Plus
Sales Incentive Program.

1B - Eligibility of products to the Group: SaaS

Product tables with the corresponding eligibility to Base Sales Incentive, Select Territory Accelerator and
Proficiency Incentive for SaaS products are those with following eligible part types (revenue stream codes):

SaaS eligible Part Types (PAO price file)

SaaS One-Time Setup (SSOTS) XaaS Cloud 3rd Party (SSUSAG)

SaaS Appliance Subscription Monthly or Annual

SaaS ELOS Setup (SSELSSU)
w/Supt (SSAPSMA)
SaaS Appliance Subscription Monthly or Annual
SaaS Fixed Term License (PASSFTL)
No Support (SSAPSMAN)
SaaS Subscription Monthly or Annual with
SaaS Perpetual License (PASSPPL)
Support (SSSMA)

2024 IBM Partner Plus Sales Incentive Program Guide for Business Partners – V5.2 38
 SaaS Subscription Monthly or Annual No Support SaaS Subscription and Support (PASSSWS)
(SSSMAN)
SaaS Setup (SSSU) Hybrid Entitlement SaaS (SSMAHE)

Eligible SaaS Products are those products listed in the Eligible Part Number list which are announced
and generally available for sale in the country of the end user. They are products ordered under the
Passport Advantage program (either Passport Advantage or Passport Advantage Express), or Cloud
Service Agreement (CSA).

SaaS Products ordered under the following transaction types are not eligible:
– SaaS Solution Provider (SSP)
– Software Embedded Solution Agreement (ESA)
– Primary Support Provider (PSP)
– Cloud Marketplace Reseller (3PM) Agreement
– Flexible Contract Terms (FCT)
– Lab Services parts, which are SaaS (human services)

1C - Eligibility of products to the Group: Subscription License

Product tables with the corresponding eligibility to Base Sales Incentive, Select Territory Accelerator and
Proficiency Incentive for Subscription License products are those with the following eligible part types (revenue
stream codes):

Subscription license eligible Part Types - (PAO price file)

Subscription License (CTLSS) – new licenses

Eligible Software Products are those products listed in the Software Deal Registration Eligible Part
Number list which are announced and generally available for sale in the country of the end user. They are
products ordered under the Passport Advantage program, either Passport Advantage or Passport
Advantage Express. Products listed on the SW Deal Registration Eligible Part Number list which are
ordered under the IBM Business Partner Agreement – Attachment for Primary Support Provider are also
eligible.

1D - Eligibility of products to the Group: IBM Cloud

Product tables with the corresponding eligibility to Base Sales Incentive, Select Territory Accelerator and
Proficiency Incentive for IBM Cloud products are those with the following eligible part types (revenue stream
codes):

IBM Cloud eligible Part Types

IBM Cloud Service Level Agreement Annual

IBM Cloud Human Services (ICHS)
(ICSLAA)
IBM Cloud Subscription Monthly or Annual with
IBM Cloud On Demand (ICOD)
Support (ICSMA)
IBM Cloud Subscription Monthly or Annual
IBM Cloud 3rd Party Passthru (ICPTHRU)
without Support (ICSMAN)

2024 IBM Partner Plus Sales Incentive Program Guide for Business Partners – V5.2 39
 IBM Cloud Remotely Delivered Garage Services
IBM Cloud Subscription Overage (ICSOVG)
(ICRDGS)

1E - Eligibility of products to the Group: Power, Storage and LinuxONE

All IBM Power Systems, all IBM Storage Systems, and all LinuxONE products that BPs are authorized to market
are eligible for this program. A list of these products is indicated in the Deal Registration Product Groups.

Infrastructure Model Upgrades, which are additional equipment’s to a machine that is already installed
commonly referred in IBM as MES orders are also eligible for Partner Plus Incentives.

1F - Eligibility of offerings to the Group: Technology Lifecycle Services (TLS)

Technology Lifecycle Services (TLS) Expert Care Offerings (via eConfig) for Advanced and Premium services are
eligible in this program. A list of these offerings is indicated in the “Technology Lifecycle Services (TLS) Expert
Care Offerings (via eConfig)” section.

Only purchases made from the Preferred Distributor identified in IBM Partner Profiling System will be counted
towards incentives for the Business Partner. Preferred Distributor for TLS Expert Care incentives should be
aligned to the Power/Storage Preferred Distributor. The TLS Expert Care incentive will not be paid to a Services
Distributor if it differs from the Power/Storage Preferred Distributor.

1G – Eligibility of offerings to the Group: Advanced and Extended Support Offering – first sale

Product tables with the corresponding eligibility to Select Territory Accelerator and Proficiency Incentive for
Advanced and Extended Support Offerings products are those with the following eligible part types (revenue
stream codes):

Advanced and Extended eligible Part Types *

Subscription License Extended (EXTSPTSL) Perpetual Extended (EXTDSUPT)

Subscription License Advanced (ADVSPTSL) Perpetual Advanced (ADVSUPT)

SaaS Advanced (ADVSPTMO)

2. Renewals (Software)
2A - Eligibility of products to the Group: Subscription & Support (S&S) and S&S Sustained Support
Passport Advantage or Passport Advantage Express renewal part numbers which are announced and
generally available for sale in the country of the Eligible end user with “Part Type” description:

Subscription and Support eligible Part Types

Software Subscription & Support Renewal

Renewal S&S with HW Maintenance (RSSHWM)
(RNWMNTSP)
Appliance Renewal S&S with HW Maintenance
(ASRSSHWM)

2024 IBM Partner Plus Sales Incentive Program Guide for Business Partners – V5.2 40
 The following Part Type descriptions are not Eligible Products to S&S:
• Any SaaS, Fixed Term, Subsequent part type and Subscription License
• Any Subsequent Term License or Subsequent Fixed Term parts
• Any Reinstatement parts such as SW Subscription & Support Reinstatement
• Any renewal’s part types other than those above

Below is a list of transactions that are not eligible transactions to S&S Base Sales incentive.
• Sales transacted under any other agreement type other than IBM Passport Advantage or Passport
Advantage Express (such as but not limited to Flexible Contract Type, Embedded Services
Agreement, Transaction Agreements)
• Any renewal offered through a Support Provider when the Support Provider is providing support
(PSP transactions)
• Bridge to Cloud return to on premise sales quote (the first year after termination of Bridge to
Cloud)
• FCT to Passport Advantage migration sales quotes (the first year selling in PA)
• AAS to Passport Advantage migration sales quote (the first ear selling in PA)
• The first year after an IBM Unlimited (Enterprise) License Agreement (IULA) / Capped License
Agreement expires where IBM Direct transacted the renewals during the term of the IULA.
• Please check your geography addendum to check if there are additional exclusions.

The Business Partner must first sell a year of renewals in Passport Advantage without the incentive before
IBM is able to honor them as the Reseller of Transaction for the second year.

If a Distributor is processing an order with a New License/Reinstatement or Upgrade, the following part
types qualify as new/reinstatement or upgrade. The incentives will be paid on the Renewal part (provided
it’s one of the eligible part types listed above) that is associated with the New Software or New Appliance.

In the case that two new licenses or a new license and trade-up part share the same renewal part then
the Distributor should combine the quantities for both new licenses or the new license and trade-up part.
Business Partners should contact their Distributor for part number eligibility determination.

Eligibility of products to Support Offerings Sustained Support (Parts starting with Y): Allows clients to
acquire support after IBM base support ends and no new versions or releases are available for the
program.

Sustained Support eligible Part Types

S&S Sustained (CONTSUPT) SL Sustained (CNTSPTSL)

2B - Eligibility of products to the Group: Subscription License (SL) Renewal, Upgrade, SL Sustained Support,
Advanced Support and Extended Support
Product tables with the corresponding eligibility to Select Territory Accelerator and Proficiency Incentive will be
shared in the following link software products and follow eligibility in below revenue stream code.

2024 IBM Partner Plus Sales Incentive Program Guide for Business Partners – V5.2 41
 Subscription license eligible Part Types - (PAO price file)

Subscription License Upgrade (CTLMI)

Subscription License (CTLSS) – renew licenses

• New Incentives will now apply for new Subscription License (SL) sales for the duration of the initial
term. Example: a 3-year initial term will earn new license incentive for all 3 years, whether billed
Annually or Upfront.
• Subscription License (SL) evolutions, Subscription License (SL) replaced by switching to or from z &
distributed parts and Subscription License (SL) EoS with replacements all will be considered renewals
and not eligible for the “new Subscription License (SL) incentives.”
• Subscription License (SL) renewals moving from one site to another site will pe paid as renewals not
as new Subscription License (SL).
• Deal Registration conflicts between the Business Partner of Record (incumbent) and the non-
Incumbent will default to the Business Partner of Record (incumbent).
• Subscription License (SL) sales sold IBM direct in the prior year changing to BP will be paid as
renewals.
• Subscription License (SL) continuous billing renewals are not eligible for Partner Plus Incentives
starting on April 8th. Business Partners should use committed term or Auto-Renewal in order to
receive Partner Plus incentives for software renewal orders.

Eligibility of products to Support Offerings Advanced and Extended

• IBM Extended Support (Parts starting with X): Allows clients to acquire support after IBM base support
ends for their program version or release in use.

• IBM Advanced Support (Parts starting with E SaaS and Z): Allows clients to acquire an enhanced
support experience on top of their active IBM support subscription, providing prioritized case handling
and shorter response time objectives.

Advanced and Extended eligible Part Types *

Subscription License Extended (EXTSPTSL) Perpetual Extended (EXTDSUPT)

Subscription License Advanced (ADVSPTSL) Perpetual Advanced (ADVSUPT)

SaaS Advanced (ADVSPTMO) SL Sustained (CNTSPTSL)

2C - Eligibility of products to the Group: SaaS Renewal

Product tables with the corresponding eligibility to Base Sales Incentive, Select Territory Accelerator and
Proficiency Incentive are the same part types as New License for SaaS, defined here. It’s also shared in the
following link for software products.

2024 IBM Partner Plus Sales Incentive Program Guide for Business Partners – V5.2 42
Eligible SaaS Products are those products listed as described above and following availability for sale in the
country of the End User. They are products ordered under the Passport Advantage program (either Passport
Advantage or Passport Advantage Express), or Cloud Service Agreement (CSA).
For SaaS, continuous billing renewals are not eligible for Partner Plus Incentives starting on April 8th. Business
Partners should use committed term or Auto-Renewal in order to receive Partner Plus incentives for software
renewal orders.

2D – Eligibility of products to the Group: Technology Lifecycle Services (TLS) Renew On Time and Warranty
Exit Capture
Offering tables with the corresponding eligibility for Base Sales Incentive and Proficiency Incentive are defined
here.
Below is a list of transactions that are not eligible transactions for TLS Renew On Time and Warranty Exit
Capture:
• Contracts with non-standard billing (requiring special requests to Quote to Cash. For example,
Cash on Delivery payment terms)
• Contracts registered via CFTS
• The following countries are not eligible: Brazil, Bolivia, Mexico, Paraguay, Venezuela, Korea

3. Trade Ups and Reinstatement (Software)

3A - Eligibility of products to Software Trade Ups and Reinstatement
Product tables with the corresponding eligibility to Select Territory Accelerator and Proficiency Incentive for
Trade ups and Reinstatement.

Trade Ups and Reinstatement eligible Part Types

Trade Up License + SW Subscription & Support Trade Up License + SW Subscription & Support
(TRDMNTSP) HW (APTLSS)
Competitive Trade-Up License + SW Subscription SW Subscription & Support Reinstatement
& Support (CMPTRDUP) (MNT&SPT)
Trade Up License + SW Subscription & Support Appliance Reinstatement License, S&S w HW
HW Add-On (AATLSS) Maintenance (ASREIHWM)
Reinstatement License, S&S with HW
Cloud Pak Trade Up License
Maintenance (REIHWM)

Flex Point Trade Up License

Appendix C – Geography Payment terms

To ensure compliance with local tax requirements in each of the countries, different billing and payment
processes apply.

2024 IBM Partner Plus Sales Incentive Program Guide for Business Partners – V5.2 43
1. North America (Power, Storage, LinuxONE and TLS)
Power Systems, Storage, LinuxONE and Technology Lifecycle Services incentives earned for sales to end user
customers will be issued as credits to Reseller/Systems Integrator’s identified Preferred Distributor shortly after
the invoice is issued by IBM to the Distributor. This includes both GOE and Non-GOE transactions.

As IBM has no knowledge of the commercial terms between Resellers/Systems Integrators and the Distributor;
and, as the Distributor is not acting as a payment agent for IBM, the amount provided to the Reseller/Systems
Integrator from the Distributor is agreed exclusively between Reseller/Systems Integrator and the identified
preferred Distributor.

2. Latin America (Power, Storage, LinuxONE, TLS and Software)

To ensure compliance with local requirements in each of the countries, these terms apply for Power, Storage,
LinuxONE, Technology Lifecycle Services and Software in the following countries/ regions.

• For Brazil, IBM do not offer rebates, any partner recognition mentioned in the program guide should be
considered as an incentive paid directly to the reseller or through the Distributor.
• For Bolivia and Paraguay: Software GOE and non-GOE the Business Partner incentive payment is made
after the invoice is issued as instant incentive. This payment is a credit memo, invoice or added as
incremental discount depending on the country operation paid to the Preferred Distributor.
• Latin Caribbean Region countries (Panamá, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa
Rica, Dominican Republic): These countries are not included in this Partner Plus program and have a
different dedicated guide to cover incentive sales in this region. Please reach out to GBM alliance company
to understand how to do business with IBM.
• For Colombia IBM and the Distributor expressly state that under no circumstances shall this Sales
Incentives Program Guide be construed as a commercial agency contract, nor shall the relationship
between them be construed as an agency relationship.

3. Middle East Africa – MEA (Software, Power, Storage, LinuxONE and TLS)
• IBM General Marketing and Services Representatives (GMSRs) are not eligible for this incentive.
Software incentives (Base Sales Incentive, Select Territory Accelerator, Proficiency Incentive, “On time”
renewal) and TLS Expert Care incentives are excluded where the Preferred Distributor is a GMSR.
• For benefit amounts in Turkey, local currency equivalent should be calculated based on the exchange
rate posted by the Central Bank of Turkey the day prior to the day of invoice issued.
• You agree that incentives provided (by means of a rebate or discount), outside of these conditions will
be repaid to IBM by the Business Partner or Preferred Distributor (where relevant), in accordance with
terms indicated by IBM.

3. A. Purchasing through a Distributor

For all other MEA Countries: Payment of any earned incentives will be made by IBM to the Distributor. IBM will
issue a Credit note to the Distributor before the end of the quarter following the period of achievement unless
local tax law requires the issue of alternative rebate documentation. BP’s Preferred IBM Distributor is
responsible for paying and issuing any billing documentation needed to support the rebate payment to qualifying
Resellers/Systems Integrators. IBM is not responsible if any payment made to its Distributor is not passed on to
Resellers/Systems Integrators. It is BP’s responsibility to agree with the Distributor any terms upon which the
transfer of the rebate is performed. Preferred Distributors are expected to pass the incentive amount that they
will receive under this program, in full, to the Tier 2 Business Partner.

2024 IBM Partner Plus Sales Incentive Program Guide for Business Partners – V5.2 44
For Turkey, South Africa, Lesotho, Namibia and Swaziland: IBM will send an Invoice request in the quarter
following the period of achievement to IBM Business Partner in Turkey, South Africa, Lesotho, Namibia and
Swaziland. The IBM BPs must issue an invoice to IBM to receive the payments. IBM reserves the right to validate
that the charging of VAT or similar transaction taxes is legally correct and that any invoice or equivalent
document issued to IBM complies with applicable tax laws. IBM will not make payment if either VAT or similar
transaction taxes has been incorrectly charged, or if the billing document you issued does not comply with
applicable tax laws. IBM will not accept the invoice if it is not issued and delivered to IBM within 180 days
after IBM sends an Invoice Request.

3. B. Purchasing directly from IBM

Payment of any earned incentives will be made by credit note in the quarter following the period of achievement.
No billing documentation should be issued by the Business Partner in the eligible countries and IBM will reject
any billing documentation issued by the Business Partner. IBM will make direct payments to its Business Partner
in the eligible countries at the end of the quarter following the period of measurement/achievement.

4. Europe (Power, Storage, LinuxONE and TLS)

4. A. Purchasing through a Distributor

For Belgium, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Bulgaria,
Croatia, Czech Republic, Estonia, Georgia, Hungary, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Macedonia,
Moldova, Montenegro, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine,
Uzbekistan, Andorra, Comoros, France, French Guyana, French Polynesia, French Southern Territories,
Guadeloupe, Martinique, Mayotte, Monaco, New Caledonia, Reunion, St. Pierre and Miquelon, Vanuatu,
Wallis & Futuna, San Marino, Vatican City, Aland Islands, Denmark, Faeroe Islands, Finland, Greenland,
Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Greece, British Indian Ocean Territory, Falkland Islands, Gibraltar, Guernsey,
Isle of Man, Jersey, Pitcairn Island, Saint Helena, South Georgia & South Sandwich Island, United
Kingdom, Italy: Payment of the incentives for the above countries will be made by credit note to your preferred
Distributor in the quarter following the period of achievement. Your IBM Business Partner Distributor is
responsible for paying and issuing any billing documentation, to the Business Partner for the rebate in these
countries. IBM is not responsible if any payment made to a nominated Distributor is not passed on to the IBM T2
Business Partner. Please note that payments to Business Partners in Greece may be delayed due to local tax
notification requirements.

For IBM Ireland, Israel, Malta, Portugal, Spain or Switzerland: The T2 Business Partner will receive an
Invoice Request from IBM in the quarter following the period of achievement and must issue an invoice to IBM
to receive the rebates applicable to the above countries. IBM reserves the right to validate that the charging of
VAT or similar transaction taxes is legally correct and that any invoice or equivalent document issued to IBM
complies with applicable tax laws. IBM will not make payment if either VAT or similar transaction taxes has been
incorrectly charged, or if the billing document you issue does not comply with applicable tax laws. IBM will not
accept the invoice if it is not issued and delivered to IBM within 180 days after IBM sends an Invoice Request.

For Austria, Germany: IBM will issue a credit note including VAT to its Austrian, German Tier 2 Business
Partners in the quarter following the period of achievement.

Tier 2 Business Partners are responsible for making any input VAT adjustments linked to this sales promotion
rebate in connection with IBM product purchased from their suppliers.

4. B. Purchasing directly from IBM

2024 IBM Partner Plus Sales Incentive Program Guide for Business Partners – V5.2 45
Business Partners that purchase product directly from IBM: IBM will issue a credit note including VAT to Tier 1
Business Partners in the quarter following the period of achievement.

5. Asia Pacific (Power, Storage, LinuxONE, TLS and Software)

To ensure compliance with local tax requirements in each of the countries, different billing and payment
processes apply. These terms apply for Power, Storage, LinuxONE, Technology Lifecycle Services and Software
in the following countries/ regions.

Region/Eligible countries Mapping:

Region/ Market Eligible countries

ANZ Australia, New Zealand, Fiji, Papua New Guinea

Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei, Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Myanmar,
ASEAN
Laos, Singapore
KOREA Korea

GCG People’s Republic of China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Macao

ISA India, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal, Sri Lanka

For ANZ, ASEAN, Korea, GCG, ISA

1. The charges/consideration payable under this offering are inclusive of all indirect taxes, not limited to
service tax, value added tax, goods and services tax ("GST") or any local taxes, as applicable, at the
prevailing rate.
2. IBM is the sole determiner or any and all eligibility and payments under this offer.
3. IBM Business Partners will ensure that product sold under this program is for domestic use (i.e., not for
export) and must be sold to end users.
4. Korea specific:
a. Systems Integrators in Korea, for Infrastructure (Power, Storage, LinuxONE and TLS), are not
eligible for back-end incentives.
b. Only Business Partners who purchase IBM Power Systems and/or Storage Systems and/or
LinuxONE products from IBM Distributors and have the valid IBM Reseller BPA (Business
Partner Agreement) at the time of product delivery are eligible.
c. In Korea, IBM reserves the right to modify or withdraw this offer at any time with reasonable
cause.
d. The payment will be made in cash or cheque. An invoice will be required in order to receive the
reward/benefit. IBM will separately request the invoice. Business partners will be requested to
issue an invoice with amounts due and must be submitted by the due date as notified by the
IBM disbursement team.
e. For the avoidance of doubt, for Korea, Technology Lifecycle Services (TLS) offerings are not
eligible for incentives.
5. GCG specific: China, the Business Partner Incentive program is only eligible for Storage and LinuxONE;
incentives are not available for Power.
6. GCG specific: In China SaaS transactions are not available, therefore, incentives are not eligible in this
country.
7. Payment of any earned incentives will be made at the end of the quarter following the period of
measurement/achievement.

2024 IBM Partner Plus Sales Incentive Program Guide for Business Partners – V5.2 46
 8. IBM reserves the right to withhold any payment (in whole or part) to recover payments already issued if
you do not meet your objectives or otherwise violate the terms and conditions of this letter or your IBM
Business Partner Agreement.
9. IBM reserves the right to request further data for validation and will withhold payments subject to
validation of data and/or recover monies already paid.
10. IBM reserves the right to deduct from the Business partner's earnings any amounts due to IBM because
of overpayment or noncompliance with other IBM programs.
11. IBM reserves the right to recover fees, incentives, and other payments made to the Business Partner on
transactions resulting in significant dissatisfaction and/or IBM Sales concessions to the end user.
12. IBM reserves the right to adjust any rebate at its sole discretion and recover from you any rebate over
payment IBM has made in error.
13. Any payment issued for prior months or discrepancy in reporting, or any violations found after IBM has
made any payout under this program will result in the recalculation of the rebate. In this regard, IBM
reserves the right to recover from the Business Partner any rebate in full that has been paid out by IBM
to the Business Partner.
14. If the accounts receivables (AR) by IBM from the Business Partner is not current (i.e., the accounts
receivables have been outstanding for more than the credit period agreed with IBM), IBM may withhold
rebate payment until such time as the accounts receivables (AR) are made current. IBM reserves the
right to review, amend, modify or withdraw this program at its sole discretion without notice.
15. Program offering (including modifications) in this letter is effective from the applicable calendar quarter
when this letter is announced.
16. For ASEAN countries, for Power, Storage, LinuxONE and Technology Lifecycle Services, all rebates
payable to the Business Partners will be calculated and paid in local currency (except for Vietnam,
Cambodia, Myanmar and Laos). For Vietnam, rebate is calculated in USD currency, but rebate is paid in
local currency. For Cambodia, rebates are calculated and paid in USD currency. For Myanmar, rebates
are calculated in local currency (THB) and paid in USD currency. For Laos, rebates are calculated in local
currency (THB) and paid in USD currency.
17. For Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Nepal and Bhutan, payment currency will be in USD. For India, this will be in
local currency.
18. In Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan: No payment will be made for revenue through customers designated by
IBM to be a Government Entity (GE).
19. The condition IBM reserves the right to make no payment if the total incentive amount earned each
month/quarter, or at the respective payment cycle, is less than $250 value in local currency does not
apply in Australia and New Zealand and any amount will be paid.

For ISA
1. Rebate will be applicable to actual quarter product revenue attainment for Full Duty transactions from
an IBM Storage/Power/ LinuxONE authorized Distributor only.
2. IBM Business Partners compliance with the terms and conditions will be reviewed periodically. IBM
Business Partners may be required to provide supporting documents (e.g., bills, invoices etc.,) to ensure
the terms and conditions of this Incentive Program and associated special bids have been fulfilled.
3. If IBM determines that there has been any discrepancy in reporting, IBM may immediately terminate the
Incentive Program with the IBM Business Partner. If IBM has made any payouts to the IBM Business
Partner pursuant to such discrepancy, the IBM Business Partner shall return all or part of such payout,
as determined by IBM.
4. The IBM Business Partner will comply with all applicable laws and regulations, including but not limited
to passing on rebates as and when required by law.
5. The IBM Business Partner represents and warrants that it is and will continue to be in compliance with
all applicable export laws (including not being on any Denied Party List). No licenses or rights (including

2024 IBM Partner Plus Sales Incentive Program Guide for Business Partners – V5.2 47
 licenses or rights under trademarks, copyrights or patents) are granted by IBM to the Business Partner,
other than as expressly agreed upon in writing.
6. IBM and IBM Business Partners agree to comply with all withholding tax obligations, as applicable.
However, the withholding tax component would be borne by the respective payees for all transactions to
which withholding tax is applicable.

Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan (Documentation required for Incentive claiming): Resident persons/firms can
work as agents on behalf of foreign principals without prior permission from Bangladesh Bank. Similarly, no
permission is required for encashment of inward remittances repatriated favoring local agents on account of
commission, remuneration, fee, service charges, etc. Designated Authorized Dealers (AD), while conducting
foreign exchange transactions on behalf of their agent-customers, shall adhere to following instructions:

1. ADs shall maintain customer-wise files with updated agency agreements and copies of
licenses/permissions, if applicable, issued by the competent authorities.
2. ADs shall be satisfied that agents have necessary arrangements with foreign principals to
repatriate their monthly payments. In case of commission, remuneration, fee, service charges,
etc. to be receivable by agents on transaction basis as per agreements, the payment shall be
repatriated immediately on its closure between foreign principals and concerned persons/firms in
Bangladesh.
3. ADs shall observe relevant other regulations such as AML/CFT standards, taxes, etc. for
executing foreign exchange transactions.

India, Bangladesh, Bhutan and Nepal:

• The payment will be made in cash or cheque. An invoice will be required in order to receive the
reward/benefit. IBM will separately request the invoice. Business partners will be requested to issue an
invoice with amounts due and must be submitted by the due date as notified by the IBM disbursement
team.

Sri Lanka (Power, Storage, LinuxONE and TLS)

• Payment of any earned incentives in Sri Lanka will be made through a credit note to your preferred
Distributor.

GCG
• Payment earned for eligible sales will be paid to your Preferred Distributor as a credit note shortly after
the transactional invoice from IBM.
• All rebates payable to the Business Partners will be paid to your Preferred Distributor as a credit note
and will be passed on to you at the Distributor's discretion. As IBM has no knowledge of the commercial
terms between you and your Distributor; and, as the Distributor is not acting as a payment agent, the
amount passed on from the Distributor to you is agreed exclusively between you and your Preferred
Distributor.

Australia, Fiji, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea

The payment will be made in cash or cheque. An invoice will be required in order to receive the reward/benefit.
IBM will separately request the invoice. Business partners will be requested to issue an invoice with amounts due
and must be submitted by the due date as notified by the IBM disbursement team.

Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei, Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Myanmar, Laos, Singapore

2024 IBM Partner Plus Sales Incentive Program Guide for Business Partners – V5.2 48
The payment will be made in cash or cheque. An invoice will be required to receive the reward/benefit. IBM will
separately request the invoice. Business partners will be requested to issue an invoice with amounts due and must
be submitted by the due date as notified by the IBM disbursement team.

Cambodia (Power, Storage, LinuxONE and TLS): Reward/Benefit will be paid as a Credit note from IBM to your
preferred Distributor, and it is intended that Distributor will pay an amount equivalent to the value of such credit
note to Business Partner. All rebates payable to the Business Partners will be paid to your Preferred Distributor
as a credit note and will be passed on to you at the Distributor's discretion. As IBM has no knowledge of the
commercial terms between you and your Distributor; and, as the Distributor is not acting as a payment agent, the
amount passed on from the Distributor to you is agreed exclusively between you and your Preferred Distributor.

Thailand (Power, Storage, LinuxONE and TLS): invoice is not required for payment.

Appendix D – Components detailed information

This section gives specific details on elements that compose the incentive framework.

Select Territory Accelerator

The Select Territory Accelerator is paid in recognition of a Business Partner driving revenue growth and new
prospects. It is earned as a transactional incentive applied over the total sales revenue from eligible products.
This incentive element requires having an approved Deal Registration in IBM Partner Portal and the End User
Customer is located within Select Territory in Partner Portal.

The End User Customer identifier is displayed at time of deal registration at IBM Partner Portal and honored if
the deal registration is active and approved.

Every year, in January, IBM conducts an annual account re-classification. A routine process to optimize and review
client accounts, resulting in adjustments to territories. This should be considered in case a transaction is not
closed in the same year of its creation, as the Select Territory Accelerator classification can possibly change.

Proficiency Individuals
IBM announced a revamped approach to skills requirements giving partners access to the same badges and
selling enablement materials as IBMers, at no cost and accessed through a digital experience. IBM Partner Plus
Program is based on top of this skills announcement. To be eligible, a Business Partner must have one person
holding both a Sales Foundation Badge and a Technical Sales Intermediate Badge on a product (or family of
products). The same person must hold both the Sales Foundation and Technical Sales Intermediate badges to
be classified as a proficient individual.

2024 IBM Partner Plus Sales Incentive Program Guide for Business Partners – V5.2 49
Details about the badges:
• Sales Foundation Badge: is a badge focusing on how to position and differentiate the IBM Solution. It
includes productivity enhancements including fully scripted customer and seller decks containing
competitive positioning, objection handling, etc.

• Technical Sales Intermediate Badge: provides the environment and scripts on how to successfully
demonstrate the IBM solution. Focuses on business narrative to show competitive differentiation and
value.

Having a proficient individual associated to a deal registration group will allow the partner to be eligible for
Proficiency Incentive (Proficiency Incentive is based on achieved badges). The partner achievement will be
displayed at time of deal registration, but for incentives purposes, it will be re-checked at time of eligibility check
to ensure the partner still holds the skills required. The partner must maintain required badges at this eligibility
check timing to earn the Proficiency Incentive.

IBM only requires one person to hold the required badges for each product group at worldwide level (for
companies with multi-subsidiaries) to receive Proficiency Incentives. However, IBM recommends that partners
have more than one person with the skills to guarantee access to benefits.

See how products are grouped into proficiency alignment.

Start working on your skills at the IBM Badges Catalog.

Proficiency individuals
The Sales Foundation Badge and Technical Sales Intermediate Badges must be earned and retained by same
employee (global level / WW Enterprise ID), who is a Full-time Resource of the Business Partner organization.
“Full-time Resource” means a Business Partner employee, or an independent contractor, consultant or agent
who has been and will continue to be working in support of the Business Partner’s business activities for a
minimum of 32 hours per week.

It is the Business Partner’s responsibility to ensure these requirements are met and kept current. Please visit
your new Partner Plus™ Dashboard at IBM Partner Portal to view the Badges that are currently in your firm's
profile.

Please contact Partner Support Desk if you have any questions or need assistance with viewing your Badges for
your firm.

Business Partner of Record (BPR)

2024 IBM Partner Plus Sales Incentive Program Guide for Business Partners – V5.2 50
After the new license, reinstatement or trade-up is sold, at the end of one year, the end user must purchase SW
Subscription & Support separately for that license. The Business Partner eligible for this incentive is the Business
Partner who sold the new licenses previously to the same end user. This partner received the title of “Business
Partner of Record” (Business Partner eligible for the incentive). Previously Reseller of Transaction or Incumbent
was also used to determine a partner eligible for incentives, this is now unified and should be called Business
Partner of Record.
For existing renewals, the Business Partner identified as the Business Partner of Record is the Business Partner
who fulfilled the same renewal part and quantity previously to the same end user at the same site. In both
circumstances, this Business Partner is referred to as the Business Partner of Record.

If a Business Partner (A) is completely acquired by another Business Partner (B), the Business Partner of Record
status will be transferred to Business Partner (B) “the acquiring partner”. This will only apply if Business Partner
(A) is completely terminated in IBM Partner Plus™. If Business Partner (A) is still a member of IBM Partner Plus,
then the renewals will not be transferred to the acquiring Business Partner.

Once the merger is complete within IBM systems, after all active quotes have been expired, only the acquiring
Business Partner and that Business Partner’s Preferred Distributor will be able to download quotes previously
associated with Business Partner (A).

The acquiring Business Partner needs to use their Headquarters’ Reseller ID (also known as Customer Number or
DSW ID) to place the order in order to receive the Base Sales Incentive. Partner Profiling System can be used to
confirm the Reseller ID / Customer Number that is associated with the Headquarters site.

This is the title given to the historical partner working on the opportunity (the partner who put the order in the
previous year). This title protects the partner on the deal, giving priority to this company to renew the contract.

BPR special handing for SaaS and Subscription License (SL)

IBM has put in place an interim process for SaaS and Subscription License (SL) renewals pricing and incentives
protection planned to be sunset with the announcement of BPR identification automation process.

Until then, the partner that has BPR status will receive a preferred price compared to partners that do not have
BPR status, following similar pricing to value seller (uplifting the price for the non-BPR by up to 15%). IBM will not
require the Business Partner of Record (BPR) for incentive payments.

Business Partner of Record status for SaaS

The Business Partner of Record for SaaS status can be removed in certain instances, for example where there is
no action by the partner after the entitlement period ends, when it’s a partner request, and other situations. Take
a minute to review the possible cases and how to proceed.

Business Partner of Record email notifications

Because there is a potential financial impact related to the Business Partner of Record status, we provide system
generated email notifications when you have gained the Business Partner of Record status, are at risk of losing
the Business Partner of Record status or have lost the Business Partner of Record status. Each notification will
contain the details associated with the change below.

“On time” renewal

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“On Time” (Software) means the order was submitted to IBM by the Distributor prior to the start date of the part’s
Coverage Period. The Line Item Start Date is determined by the first day in the month when the renewal will start.
As an example, if a renewal part has a start date of May 1, the renewal order must be received by IBM no later
than April 30 to qualify for the renewal incentive.
“On Time” (TLS) is when purchase order is submitted to IBM by the Distributor on or prior to the start date of
the TLS components coverage period

Quantity Purchased in a Renewal (Software)

If the Business Partner is the Business Partner of Record, Passport Advantage Online (PAO) indicates the quantity
that Business Partners are eligible for receive Sales Base Incentive at the Business Partner of Record rate.
Business Partners and their Preferred Distributor will only have visibility to the end user’s renewals if they are the
Last Business Partner of Record and for the respective quantities previously sold by the Business Partner.

If the end user orders quantities through the Business Partner that is not identified as the Business Partner of
Records on PAO, then the Reseller would not be eligible for the incentive on those parts.

IBM calculates the Base Sales Incentive quantity with a high degree of accuracy. For every part evolution where
the part evolves from 1 part to another part, there is a corresponding rule for how to evolve the quantities. The
quantities may be kept the same (known as a 1:1 ratio) or the quantities may change (for instance, 1 part of the
old product equals 2 parts of the new product). This ratio is applied to quantity that the Business Partner
previously sold. For example, Reseller A sold 10 units of renewal ABC to an end user. The renewal ABC evolves to
renewal DEF at a 1:2 ratio. One part of ABC equals 2 parts of DEF. The new quantity for the incentive eligibility will
be 20 units of DEF.

For part evolutions where the part evolves from 1 part to many parts or many parts to 1 part, there is a quantity
ratio as well. In the case of a 1 to 1 conversion, the Business Partner is given incentive credit for the new parts for
the quantity equivalent to the quantity that the Business Partner previously sold. If the ratio is other than 1 to 1,
then the quantity will be capped for all partners to be the total quantity for the part for that end user. This occurs
very infrequently.

When the quote data is released, if the Business Partner has evidence that the incentive quantities are not correct
then they may identify any discrepancies using a Manual Inclusion Process. If not reported by the Business
Partner, then IBM and the Distributor will proceed with the best information available as given on Passport
Advantage Online (PAO).

There may be more than one Business Partner who is the Business Partner of Record for the same renewal part
at the same customer. In this situation, both Business Partners are eligible for the incentive but for their respective
quantities only.

There is one situation where the quantity may not accurately reflect either the quantity sold by the Business
Partner previously or may not accurately reflect their coverage relative to the end users’ entitlements. In the
unlikely scenario that a single part evolves into more than one part and there are two or more Business Partners
qualified as the Business Partner of Record, then the quantities are set to the full quantity of the number of
licenses owned by the end user for all Business Partners.

Important: It is the Business Partner’s responsibility to review their quote data on Passport Advantage Online. If
quotes are missing or if the quantities are incorrect, IBM will not revisit the incentive payment after the sale is

2024 IBM Partner Plus Sales Incentive Program Guide for Business Partners – V5.2 52
made. Also, an early quote needs to be generated and information appearing on Passport Advantage Online before
renewal is made.

Appendix E – Claiming Incentives for Software

Claim incentives for Software New License
Requirements may vary for the different elements of the IBM Partner Plus Sales Incentive(s). For any Software
Incentive reward to be paid, the end user must complete the purchase of the IBM software products.

Software Incentive Requirements

The following requirements must be met to claim and receive the Sales Incentive(s):
• The Software Incentive opportunity is NOT in Expired, Denied Participation or Withdrawn status.
• Business Partner can earn the incentives only when the Sales Order is fulfilled by the Business Partner on
the opportunity.
• The Sales Order Date, Charge Agreement Date or Subscription Agreement Date is prior to the Opportunity
Expiration Date
• The Software Incentive opportunity Submit for Eligibility Date is prior to the Sales Order Date, Charge
Agreement Date or Subscription Agreement Date
• One or more Software Deal Registration Eligible part numbers on the sales order must belong to a
Software Deal Registration Product Group which was registered and approved in the Partner Portal
opportunity record.
• Select Territory Accelerator is earned if Client classification is BP account at time of deal registration.
• Proficiency Incentive is earned if Business Partner has completed and/or maintained required badges at
time of eligibility check.

If the Opportunity is flagged as a GOE end user and the Deal Registration date was before April 24, 2023, see
the Sales documentation requirements detailed in the “GOE Compliance’ section.

Provide the Opportunity Number to the Preferred Distributor to receive Incentive pricing upfront on GOE
transactions and to initiate Auto payment of incentives on non-GOE transactions.

A Business Partner can place multiple orders against an approved opportunity number up to the expiration date.

Eligible Transactions
Eligible Transactions are transactions to eligible end users for Eligible Products that are fulfilled under the IBM
Passport Advantage program, or which are ordered under the IBM Business Partner Agreement – Attachment for
Primary Support Provider. Transactions with special bid pricing are Eligible Transactions if all other requirements
are met.

When fulfilling Business Partners acquire Eligible Products through a Distributor (Tier 2 Business Partners), only
the transactions processed through their Preferred Distributor are eligible for the Software Incentives.

The following transactions and offerings are NOT Eligible Transactions:

• Contract Management and License Fulfillment - Transactions which result from Passport Advantage
contract management, and license fulfillment.
• Original Equipment Manufacturer – transactions that are fulfilled through an IBM OEM Software
Agreement (OEM Products)
• Channel margin deals – Software Deal Registration can only be applied to opportunities that address end
user discounting.
• Products ordered under Flexible Contract Type (FCT)
• Transactions for Restricted Part Numbers & Monthly Licenses (excluded from Special Bid only)

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 • Support Provider transactions do not qualify for the Sales Incentives for Monthly License parts.

Factors that determine Sales Incentive payment eligibility for some or all of the revenue from an Eligible
Transaction include:
• Matching to a qualifying opportunity.
• Meeting all the payment business rules.

Key SaaS Activities:

• Identify the IBM hosted XaaS offering(s) that meet the client’s objectives and goals and solve their
business problem.

• Educate the client on the terms and conditions and process for an IBM XaaS offering.
1. Review terms and conditions of the IBM end user agreement, security and privacy policies
2. Automatic price increases need to be explained as it may impact Purchase Order (PO) driven orders.
3. Explain the available renewal options, what they mean to your client, and the benefits to each.
4. Explain the XaaS provisioning process.

• Fill out provisioning form and submit order.

1. Identify the applicable XaaS provisioning form(s) and the required information needed.
2. Provisioning forms and requirements vary by offering and need to be understood by the client to avoid
delays in provisioning. The provisioning form is a document to capture the client information needed
for IBM to turn on their service, which must take place before billing occurs and access to the service
is provided.

• Track provisioning status on Passport Advantage Online and Onboard client to their IBM-hosted XaaS
offerings

Place order with Preferred Distributor

For Software Incentive transactions, Business Partners must provide the associated Opportunity Number to their
Preferred Distributor at the part number/line-item level for all eligible products that were approved for the Base
Sales Incentive. The Business Partner should request that their Preferred Distributor include this Opportunity
Number on their purchase order to IBM at the part number/line-item level to activate auto processing of incentive
claim submission.

In the event the Opportunity number is not on the Distributor’s PO to IBM, the auto process will not activate, and
payment to Business Partner will not be processed.

NOTE: The Partner Portal Opportunity number is 18 characters, Mixed Case, and must be entered correctly
to ensure incentive payment is generated. There are some tools (PGS/BP eorder) that have a 15-character
field limitation, in which case use only the first 15 Mixed Case characters. If Opportunity number is listed in
ALL CAPS or not an exact match it will go to an error queue and will require manual processing.

For GOE end user opportunities, the Preferred Distributor provides Software Incentives pricing up front to the
Business Partner. GOE end user transactions are eligible for Base Sales Incentive, Select Territory Accelerator,
and Proficiency Incentive. The approved Opportunity Number (in correct mixed case format) must be included on
the Distributor purchase order to IBM to initiate the payment process.

• IMPORTANT: If the Opportunity Number was missed on the Distributor purchase order to IBM,
Software Incentives are eligible only if notification is made to IBM within 30 days, but no later than
60 days of the sales order date. Otherwise, Incentives are not payable.

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For GOE and Non-GOE transactions, the same Opportunity Number can be used again if there are additional sales
orders placed before the opportunity expiration date. Also, multiple different Opportunity Numbers can be used
on the same single sales order for each unique part number on the order.

Close the Opportunity

When the sales process is complete, the Business Partner should close the opportunity in Partner Portal, update
the Decision Date and edit the Sales Stage to Won. If the Opportunity is no longer active or lost, the Business
Partner should close the Opportunity in Partner Portal using Sales Stage Lost.

If the sales process does not close by the date on which the opportunity will expire in Partner Portal, it is possible
to re-register the opportunity. See the Deal Registration Program.

Sales Stages
When you enter your Opportunity in the general tab you will be able to see the Sales Stage. The status names of
all deals will be according to what was already used by IBM Sales Cloud (ISC), which is: Engage, Qualify, Propose,
Negotiate, Won and Lost.

Appendix F – Compliance Orders

Compliance transactions which are a settlement as a result of an audit have a reduced margin and are not eligible
for Business Partners incentives. For these cases, the Business Partner margin needs to be defined directly with
BP’s Preferred Distributor.

If IBM is made aware that a transaction is a Compliance transaction, IBM reserves the right to remove the Deal
Registration Approval in IBM Partner Portal.

Compliance transactions which are in lieu content*** (non-settlement) are eligible for incentives if the business
criteria are met, unless prior agreement is made with the Business Partners to exclude incentives. If agreement is
made to exclude incentives or, there is evidence of un-earned incentives, IBM reserves the right to recover any
applied incentives.

* Some geographies may have unique compliance regulations.

** In lieu content definition: Business Partner driven opportunity which has been brought into a compliance
transaction at the customer’s request.

Appendix G – Unearned incentive recovery process

Business Partners who receive a Warning Letter from a GOE Incentive Compliance Review assessment and wish
to remain in the IBM Partner Plus Sales Incentive program must agree to return the unearned incentives to IBM.
The Business Partner must agree to be re-invoiced by their Preferred Distributor for the unearned incentive
discount to satisfy repayment of the unearned discount. The 3-step discount recovery process is defined as:

Step 1: IBM sends a Warning Letter to the Business Partner, copying their Preferred Distributor, to inform them
that the Business Partner failed the GOE Compliance review, and that IBM will be recovering the unearned
discount from the Preferred Distributor. The Business Partner is requested to return the unearned discount they
received.

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Step 2: IBM recovers the unearned discount.

Step 3: Upon completion of the recovery of unearned discount, IBM sends a Discount Recovery Complete
Letter to inform the Business Partner that IBM has completed the discount recovery.

Appendix H – Deal Registration Review (Escalation)

Deal Registration Review may be requested by an IBM Business Partner in specific situations under the Deal
Registration program. The Partner Portal Software Deal registration process may grant a specific IBM Business
Partner access to the following advantages:
• IBM Deal Registration eligibility for Preferred Pricing or access to Special Bid Pricing
• IBM Deal Registration eligibility for Software Incentive(s)

During the Software Incentive Deal Registration process, the Partner Portal tool will provide status of the
Software Deal Registration. If the Software Incentive Deal Registration is not approved, it could be for one or
more of the following reasons:
• Business Partner does not have an active Business Agreement with IBM
• Another Business Partner was approved for the Software Deal Registration

If the IBM Business Partner disagrees with one or more of the identified reasons, the Business Partner can
request a Deal Registration Review under the WW Deal Registration process if opportunity was denied due to
another Business Partner was already approved.

If IBM determines a pattern of behavior which suggests abuse of the Deal Registration process, Business
Partners may be required to provide Value Documentation for review. IBM retains the right to rescind a
Business Partners eligibility status.

When Business Partners dispute an IBM eligibility decision, that is not a result of a duplicate record, (for
example, an opportunity record that IBM has denied for eligibility due to Inactive BPA or skills) they have 30
days in which to request IBM review eligibility decision.

Appendix I – Teaming
In cases where a Business Partner has worked jointly with either IBM or another Business Partner on an
opportunity or services proposal, some additional requirements apply.

1. Teaming with IBM

For Business Partners who worked jointly with IBM on an opportunity or services proposal (delivered by IBM or
the Business Partner), where the Business Partner authored the documentation jointly with IBM, then the IBM
contact confirming the joint development of the documentation should be submitted.

2. Teaming with another IBM Business Partner

For Business Partners who worked jointly with another Business Partner on an opportunity or services proposal
as in the scenario below, the following documentation rules apply.

Scenario: IBM Partner Plus Sales Incentive Program Business Partner A registers a Software Deal Registration
and is approved for eligibility. Business Partner B is assisting Business Partner A in closing the Software Deal
Registration in some role such as consultant, GSI, RSI, SI, etc.

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In IBM Partner Plus Sales Incentive Program, we allow an authorized IBM BP to sign a teaming arrangement and
transact with another company (multi-tier). Business Partner A can work on a Deal Registration (Software,
Power, Storage or TLS) together with Business Partner B and submit sales documentation created by either firm
under the following conditions:
• Business Partner A must be enrolled in and meet all the necessary Deal Registration Product Group(s)
skills requirements.
• Business Partner B must be enrolled in Partner Plus™ and authorized under the IBM Business Partner
Agreement (by contract or by Transaction Agreement)
• The opportunity must be registered by Business Partner A and submitted for Deal Registration eligibility
in the country (or legal group) where the licenses/machines will be purchased.
• At least one sales document required must be authored by Deal Registration Business Partner A.
• Both Business Partners must participate in the sales effort on the Deal Registration and the sales
documentation must be prepared for and communicated with the end-user customer in the country (or
legal group) in which the Deal Registration is registered.
• Business Partner A can contract with Business Partner B (GSI/RSI/SI) to deliver all or a portion of the
Services to the Client.

IBM will not apply sharing of incentives. If all other Partner Plus Sales Incentive rules are met, IBM will
provide the pricing discount or the incentive payment to Business Partner A.

Note: For Latin America countries, Teaming Agreements are no longer available.

Appendix J – Records Retention

Business Partners must retain records that support transactions which pertain to the IBM Partner Plus Sales
Incentive Program for the period of time determined by the applicable laws in the country where the transaction
was executed from for related transaction or incentive payment.

At a minimum, the Business Partner must retain copies of their Eligible Sales Documentation that identifies IBM
products/solutions included in solution, copies of invoices and other legal documents (e.g., contracts) with the
end users for the associated IBM Partner Plus Sales Incentive program for transactions.

Examples include but are not limited to the following:

• For sales to a Government Entity (GE) end user, where IBM Partner Plus Sales Incentives for pricing was
provided and deal registration was prior to April 24, 2023
• For sales where the Business Partner earned Base Incentive, Select Territory Accelerator, or Proficiency
Incentive.
• Opportunities that fall outside of the standard process
• If it has been determined there is evidence that a Business Partner has falsely requested a payment that
was not earned
• In the case of legal action against one of the parties
• Regulatory-related investigations

Our expectation is that these situations should be rare.

Appendix K – Reinstatement Requirements

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Business Partners suspended from the IBM Partner Plus Sales Incentive Program may be reinstated after
requirements 1, 2, and 3 have been satisfied:
1) A minimum period of 12 months has passed, and
2) The unearned additional discount has been paid back by the Business Partner to their Preferred
Distributor and the recovery process has been completed by IBM,
3) Approval by the geography IBM Channel Sales Manager
4) The Business Partner is in good standing with Partner Plus™.

Note: Satisfying these conditions does not guarantee reinstatement.

Appendix L – Termination
If a Business Partner’s participation in IBM Partner Plus Sales Incentive Program is terminated, IBM will notify
them in writing of the process to settle any outstanding incentive payments to them or repayments to us for any
overpayment or adjustments of incentive payments.

Should IBM decide to terminate a Business Partner’s participation in IBM Deal Registration, IBM will send a
letter to the Primary Relationship Contact listed in their Partner Plus™ Profile. If a Business Partner is terminated
from Deal Registration for a cause, then their membership in Partner Plus™ and their IBM Business Partner
Agreement may also be terminated.

To protect Business Partners’ investment in Deal Registrations and active selling, IBM will periodically review
submitted Deal Registrations to determine if the Business Partner is operating in the spirit of the offering.
Examples of situations that are cause for termination include but are not limited to the following:

• Registering excessive numbers of incomplete or invalid opportunities.

• Constantly over inflating or understating the estimated deal revenue.
• Regularly registering multiple Offerings in an opportunity as a placeholder.
• Frequently registering or re-registering opportunities that never close.
• Continuously registering opportunities which have recently expired.
• Consistently registering additional brand content for opportunities that are already in IBM’s
opportunity management system.
• Failure to cooperate providing additional documentation if requested.
• Regularly being the subject of complaints by other Business Partners.

NOTE:
Termination from the IBM Partner Plus Sales Incentive Program may not preclude the Business Partner from
other business-as-usual reselling activities.

The Business Partner may still be able to participate in any of the following:
• Resell any IBM product to any End User Customer set.
• Offer Passport Advantage volume licensing from a Preferred Distributor of BP’s choice to any End
User Customer.
• Resell software subscription and support renewal offerings.

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