SAP Kicks Off New BI Partner Program for SMBs
SAP (NYSE: SAP) will allow authorized channel partners to sell its BusinessObjects Edge edition business intelligence software to SMBs and has added two distributors to its PartnerEdge program to support the initiative.
SAP named ACA Pacific, an Australian IT solutions distributor, and China National Software & Service Co. Ltd., an IT service specialist and subsidiary of China Electronics Corp., as the first distributors to join the PartnerEdge program, in an announcement the enterprise application software maker made at China Sapphire, held in Beijing late last week.
Although SAP kicked off the distribution program in Asia Pacific, the company plans to phase in other distributors and resellers worldwide, officials said.
Kevin Gilroy, SAP senior vice president, Global Indirect Channels, said distributors will help the vendor tap into a large reseller network to grab more of the analytics market.
“We have identified a surge in demand of smaller organizations for advanced BI solutions as many small companies are moving from reporting to ad-hoc query quicker than before,” Gilroy said. “This represents a huge opportunity for resellers who are the preferred partner for these small businesses. The reach of distributors in the market is very powerful as they touch even more buying centers than we do.”
Prior to extending PartnerEdge, SAP’s Crystal solutions was the only product the vendor sold through distributors.
Under terms of the program, to participate resellers must be sponsored by an SAP-endorsed local distributor, satisfy minimum program entry requirements, sign and partner agreement and meet product authorization requirements. Distributors will serve as a single points of contact for channel partners and will be responsible for billing and collecting revenue from authorized resellers.
Channel partners joining the program will receive free product education and training on SAP solutions, distributor-provided support, and gain access to the vendor’s channel partner portal for online tools, marketing materials and demand generation activities.
