Reseller Channel

Understanding how and when your product team is most prone to feature creep is the first step toward mitigating it. Zero in on those problem scenarios and apply the rules of thumb below as you create processes to protect your product.

The partner landscape is very different from it was just 10 years ago. Old channel labels like VAR and System Integrator no longer make much sense. A reseller is just as likely to also be a referral partner and a developer. And the compensation and incentive models vary depending on the role the partner is playing.

How can software vendors shift from delivering products to delivering business outcomes? It requires vertical market expertise, an understanding of the business challenges in that vertical, and a completely different go-to-market strategy.

Managed service providers (MSPs) are facing increased competition as more vendors get into the space and technological advancements make it easier for many companies to handle their IT in-house. At the same, IT teams are facing increasing pressure to deliver more and more with minimal resources. On top of this, the business model between MSPs and their customers is changing. To help address these challenges, Symphony SummitAI works with our MSP partners to provide AI-enabled IT service management.

Major players have positioned themselves as SaaS market leaders, with names like Microsoft, Salesforce, and Oracle dominating their respective spaces. Meanwhile, many other SaaS product categories are bursting at their seams. So, should we believe that the market is already established? What, if anything, is next for SaaS?

Whether your software business is in start-up mode or well established, the decision to sell through resellers can be a difficult — but potentially game-changing — business strategy. Execution of your reseller distribution model is critical, and extensive thought and planning are required.

The Channel is changing rapidly, and we need to be able to adapt and change with it. Creating positive change depends on the questions we are asking ourselves and others.

ID Agent’s partner program has grown to 1,800+ partners in 21 countries in less than two years since this SaaS company started selling through the channel. Kevin Lancaster, CEO/Founder, and Matt Solomon, VP of Business Development, sat down with SoftwareBusinessGrowth.com to discuss partner support, onboarding, hiring for a channel team, and marketing. For more about the story of ID Agent’s successful channel launch and growth, see the August/September 2019 issue of Software Executive magazine.

To say that ID Agent’s channel growth has been impressive would be a gross understatement. A more accurate assessment might say the company is a textbook example of how SaaS firms can grow exponentially without a direct sales team. Its channel play began in May 2017, when the company’s headcount was a grand total of two: Solomon and CEO/cofounder Kevin Lancaster. By December of that year 500 partners were reselling the software. Fast forward to today, and those partners total more than 2,000 in 22 countries and 45 employees.

A leading expert in the channel shares advice on strategy, management, marketing, sales, automation, and transformation.

Are channel partnerships driving SaaS revenue? And if so, how much? As it turns out, channel is an important edge for B2B SaaS growth. SaaS Capital reported on their annual survey of 1,000+ private B2B SaaS companies and the impact of channel on revenue.

Transitioning a channel from the on-premise license model to the cloud SaaS subscription model is a massive challenge, for vendor and partner alike. For starters, developing a SaaS Partner Program requires laser focus on your customers’ buyer journey.

The subscription model of SaaS has led many SaaS founders and investors to think that they can scale through a 100 percent direct sales model. The fact is that partners are the key to many SaaS companies’ success.

Telecom companies drive massive sales through agents with their referral commission model. Now they’re looking at Managed Service Providers (MSPs) for growth as their offerings move up market from commodity voice to complex data services.

For cloud-first software businesses, channel programs drive scalability and growth. However, for a cloud-first software business, this option might be neglected in spite of being a great growth driver.