SaaS - What role resellers?

Lots of teeth gnashing by resellers these days on how they can add value and , of course profits, in the emerging SaaS era where the big fat license fee of upfront software sales and maintenance is replaced by a MUCH smaller per seat monthly recurring fee.

I’ve been talking to many ISVs in the Enterprise Mobile app space recently — who see a huge need for reseller partnerships . 2GoSoftware out of Dallas is a great example — they do no direct sales of their Windows Mobile app and actually rely 100% on hardware resell partners that bring:  market reach, sales teams, and implementation expertise. And the have no plans to add a Direct Sales force as they expand into new app areas beyond their core Field Service / Routing, and Scheduling.

Salesforce.com — of course the shining pioneer in this space - has embraced firms like Blue Wolf who enable and implement complex CRM implementations.  And aren’t they all a little complex ?  I have yet to meet an end  user who implemented SFDC without wanting to bridge to content and other apps n the enterprise.

SaaS is here to stay and will only grow. The value prop for the end user is too strong for this reality to not come to be.  The challenge for resellers is defining thier value add with SaaS ISVs.

Guaranteed B2B Lead Programs - This Works!

I continually hear from vendors [and a few resellers] about the incredible lack of expertise in the reseller community with DemandGen marketing tactics.  A revolution has occurred over the last few years among B2B marketers — many spending @ least 1/2 of their DemandGen Marketing budgets with online tactics. Paid Search [PPC, etc.], Search engine Optimization [ SEO] , Email, Webinars, Social Media outreach, etc. But the challenge still remains on cost effectively sourcing names to target online or offline.

One of the most productive tactics that is driving results now is ‘Paid Lead’ programs with online campaigns.  B2B publishers [online and offline] who in the past may have rented list names at 30 cents per opt in name - are now entertaining programs where a vendor only pays when a lead occurs.  These Guaranteed Lead programs put the risk on the publishers to deliver leads against their list .  Is it expensive ? Not if you care about aligning your spend only with results! Guaranteed Lead programs cost anywhere from $20 to $60 per lead.  A lead will be predefined in your agreement with the publisher - but might be:  White paper download, webinar/videocast registration, or capturing a registration for any marketing asset that you may be promoting.

B2B publishers are now getting well over 1/2 of their revenue from non advertising sources. They are very motivated to maintain the quality and viability of their Opt In customer  lists for rental to vendors in these types of programs.

Recent 2009  data indicate publisher ad pages are down over 26%! Most publishers [especially small B2B pubs]  are willing to negotiate to be a part of any guaranteed lead program that will deliver incremental revenue.

While there are many critical dependencies to the success of your program — it is key that your Call to Action deliver highly relevant, exciting content that is meaningful to your target. Headlines matter - write a good one that will tease some clicks!

When I grow up

If you work in the channel — you gotta check this one out !

Oracle & Sun: More questions than answers.

Channel Matters has been speaking to Sun resellers, and Sun channel execs to explore the impact to the Sun channel community of the Oracle acquisition. While there is more confusion than clarity - a few key themes emerge. There is very little Oracle competency in the Sun channel. Sun partners do not focus on Oracle implementations - only the hardware needed to make Oracle work. Oracle has built a strong channel of integration and implementation services firms that have focused successfully on this segment. None of these firms have any interest in selling hardware.

Sun’s commitment to channels has been strong for the entire history of the company. However, Oracle’s intermittent channels commitment and preference for taking even small deals direct -has long alienated many a reseller who tried to partner with them. Case in point: Avnet is Oracle’s largest distributor in the US and does only about $50 mil a year in Oracle revenue —- a pittance for a company that will do north of $20 bil this year [not including Sun] . You don’t have to look to far in the channels ecosystem to find a reseller with a “…I got burned by a Direct Oracle rep story” . Just ask GE Access [ now Avnet] — who dropped Oracle several years ago after repeated Direct verse Channel conflicts that went unresolved to the channels liking.

Sun has very few resellers who have invested in proprietary software apps [ a logical synergy with an Oracle Sun integrated solution]. Most Sun resellers are solving IT Datacenter hardware problems with a mix of Server / Storage and maybe some VMware integration. Customers implementing Oracle invariably seek out implementation services from firms other than their hardware reseller.

What about Oracles significant partnership with HP’s Servers ? Does Oracle really want to begin competing with the likes of HP and IBM in this space? Wouldn’t they much prefer to leave hardware decisions to their customers — many of whom have aligned with non Sun vendors for some very good reasons [ volume purchases, reseller support, etc.]

More questions than answers for the channel with this one — but in the unlikely event that Oracle actually holds on to the Sun Server business - expect some channel storms on the horizon.

Welcome to Channel Matters

I created this blog to solve for an information dearth that is increasingly growing:  Channels to Market for High Tech Hardware, Software and Services are thriving — yet insightful editorial coverage and analysis is shrinking.  Due to the shrinking of ad supported pubs like VAR Business and Computer Reseller News — there are very few places for Channel leaders to turn for knowledge about:

• Best Practices in Channel Sales & Marketing in 2009
• Trending of different channel segments
• What Sales and Marketing tools are working today
• What technologies have held up to the shrinking of IT budgets.
• Who is selling SaaS apps effectively and how.
• As more revenue moves through the DMR channel - what are the best vendors doing to maximize this channel segment.

The good news:  Channels are a very cost efficient sales vehicle and should be able to  justify additional investment in 2009 and beyond! What do YOU think should be on the ChannelMatters list ?