The channel rebate and incentive wiki.
This is a plain-English wiki of the rebates, incentives, MDF, certifications, partner programs and the finance and operations terms that decide how much rebate revenue an IT channel partner keeps. Every entry is written from the partner's perspective - what the term means, why it matters to your margin, and how it works across the vendors you sell.
Start here - the terms partners look up first
Browse by topic - the 11 clusters
1. Rebate Management Foundations
19 termsThe category itself - rebate management software, channel vs partner-side vs vendor-side, vendor rebates, and the tools that track them.
2. Rebate & Incentive Mechanics
37 termsHow vendor rebates and incentives actually work - back-end vs front-end, volume, growth, tiered, attach, SPIFFs, thresholds, caps and accelerators.
3. MDF & Co-op Funds
14 termsVendor marketing funds - MDF, co-op, claims, proof of performance, pre-approval, and how funds expire.
4. Finance, Accruals & Audit
25 termsThe finance view - accruals, forecasting, reconciliation, earned vs claimed vs paid, clawbacks, true-ups and rebate ROI.
5. Partner Programs & Tiers
23 termsHow programs are structured - tiers, specializations, competencies, certifications and the compliance that gates your rebates.
6. Channel Ecosystem & Roles
20 termsWho's who in the channel - VARs, MSPs, distributors, SIs, ISVs, and the roles that manage vendor relationships.
7. Sales, Pipeline & Deal Economics
23 termsWhere deals meet rebates - deal registration, pipeline, deal margin, profitability by deal, and linking pipeline to expected rebate.
8. Operations, Data & Next Best Action
37 termsThe machinery - portals, multi-vendor dashboards, data ingestion, alerts, the order simulator, and the next best action.
9. Comparisons
9 termsDecision content - PRM vs rebate management, MDF vs co-op, SPIFF vs rebate, rebates vs spreadsheets, and build vs buy.
10. Vendor Programs
36 termsPlain-language entries on the major vendor programs - Cisco 360/CPI/PVI, Dell, HPE Partner Ready Vantage, Lenovo 360, NVIDIA NPN and more.
11. Metrics & KPIs
20 termsHow to measure it - rebate capture rate, forecast accuracy, MDF utilization, at-risk rebate value and more.
Stop looking these up across a dozen portals.
Rebates-On puts every vendor's rebates, MDF, certifications and next best action in one place - from your perspective.