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Although some well-meaning pundits have advised SaaS vendors
to sell direct and avoid traditional VAR channels and partners,
we believe that most successful SaaS businesses will need them and
want them. Partnerships have been successful in business since time
began. Why in the world would we abandon them now?
We agree direct sales is a reasonable strategy to get started.
There is lots of low hanging fruit and SaaS applications by nature
require less installation and configuration effort than their on-premise
competitors.
What about after the low hanging fruit has been picked and the
heavy lifting to enter new markets or new verticals is just beginning.
Who can help with that? You need partners that know the
landscape and have industry expertise.
What work is there for a VAR to do? Well, while the SaaS paradigm
emphasizes ease of use, risk-averse enterprise customers will want
on-site training, integration with other systems and other services
that VAR's provide. Your VAR's professional services and domain
knowledge extend your reach and credibility with enterprise buyers.
What about partnering with other SaaS vendors with complimentary
capabilities that make your offering even more compelling?
Combining offerings to provide a complete solution for your customers
is a powerful competitive weapon.
Conclusion
You're going to need partners. It's only a matter of time, so plan
for them from the start.
Even if you don't agree, you can lower your risk if the systems
you use to manage your SaaS business give you the flexibility to
include channels and partners in your sales eco-system if you make
that decision down the road.
There are a myriad of things to plan for to ensure that the systems
you select to manage your SaaS business elevate your ability to
sell instead of weighing you down with restrictions.
If you want help thinking this through download our complimentary
capabilities
matrix for a thought inspiring list of important features you
are likely to need as you grow your SaaS business.
If you would like more information on tools to support Channels
and Partners click
here to visit the Channels and Partners page.
Kevin Lennox
Director of Sales
IP Applications
http://www.ipapplications.com |
