https://www.channelfutures.com/wp-content/themes/channelfutures_child/assets/images/logo/footer-new-logo.png
  • Home
  • Technologies
    • Back
    • SDN/SD-WAN
    • Cloud
    • RMM/PSA
    • Security
    • Telephony/UC/Collaboration
    • Cable
    • Mobility & Wireless
    • Fiber/Ethernet
    • Data Centers
    • Backup & Disaster Recovery
    • IoT
    • Desktop
    • Artificial Intelligence
    • Analytics
  • Strategy
    • Back
    • Mergers and Acquisitions
    • Channel Research
    • Business Models
    • Distribution
    • Technology Solutions Brokerages
    • Sales & Marketing
    • Best Practices
    • Vertical Markets
    • Regulation & Compliance
  • MSP 501
    • Back
    • MSP 501 Rankings
    • NextGen 101 Rankings
  • Intelligence
    • Back
    • Galleries
    • Podcasts
    • From the Industry
    • Reports/Digital Issues
    • Webinars
    • White Papers
  • Channel Futures TV
  • EMEA
  • Channel Chatter
    • Back
    • People on the Move
    • New/Changing Channel Programs
    • New Products & Services
    • Industry Honors
  • Resources
    • Back
    • Channel Futures 20: Top Tech Providers
    • Advisory Boards
    • Industry Organizations
    • Our Sponsors
    • Advertise
    • 2023 Editorial Calendar
  • Awards
    • Back
    • 2022 MSP 501
    • Channel Influencers
    • Circle of Excellence
    • DE&I 101
    • Technology Advisor 101 (TA 101)
    • Channel Leaders Lists
  • Events
    • Back
    • 2023 Call for Speakers
    • CP Conference & Expo
    • MSP Summit
    • Channel Partners Europe
    • Channel Partners Event Coverage
    • Webinars
    • Industry Events
  • About Us
  • DE&I
Channel Futures
  • NEWSLETTER
  • Home
  • Technologies
    • Back
    • SDN/SD-WAN
    • Cloud
    • RMM/PSA
    • Security
    • Telephony/UC/Collaboration
    • Cable
    • Mobility & Wireless
    • Fiber/Ethernet
    • Data Centers
    • Backup & Disaster Recovery
    • IoT
    • Desktop
    • Artificial Intelligence
    • Analytics
  • Strategy
    • Back
    • Mergers and Acquisitions
    • Channel Research
    • Business Models
    • Distribution
    • Technology Solutions Brokerages
    • Sales & Marketing
    • Best Practices
    • Vertical Markets
    • Regulation & Compliance
  • MSP 501
    • Back
    • MSP 501 Rankings
    • NextGen 101 Rankings
  • Intelligence
    • Back
    • Galleries
    • Podcasts
    • From the Industry
    • Reports/Digital Issues
    • Webinars
    • White Papers
  • Channel Futures TV
  • EMEA
  • Channel Chatter
    • Back
    • People on the Move
    • New/Changing Channel Programs
    • New Products & Services
    • Industry Honors
  • Resources
    • Back
    • Channel Futures 20: Top Tech Providers
    • Advisory Boards
    • Industry Organizations
    • Our Sponsors
    • Advertise
    • 2023 Editorial Calendar
  • Awards
    • Back
    • 2022 MSP 501
    • Channel Influencers
    • Circle of Excellence
    • DE&I 101
    • Technology Advisor 101 (TA 101)
    • Channel Leaders Lists
  • Events
    • Back
    • 2023 Call for Speakers
    • CP Conference & Expo
    • MSP Summit
    • Channel Partners Europe
    • Channel Partners Event Coverage
    • Webinars
    • Industry Events
  • About Us
  • DE&I
    • Newsletter
  • REGISTER
  • MSPs
  • VARs / SIs
  • Agents
  • Cloud Service Providers
  • Channel Partners Events
 Channel Futures

Best Practices


SaaS

Till SaaS Do Us Part? Creating Successful Channel Partnerships in a SaaS World

Partners know that not all customers are ready for everything as a service. Many channel pros agree.
LifeSize's Tim Maloney

Tim Maloney

By Tim Maloney, SVP Worldwide Channels, LifeSize

The software-as-a-service model has created new challenges for suppliers and their channel partners. Let’s face it — many resellers and distributors, including those in the videoconferencing and collaboration market, are reluctant to forgo the high upfront gross margins of an on-premises infrastructure. This raises challenges for vendors as well. After all, partners are critical to our businesses; at my company, Lifesize, 85 percent of our customers are brought to us by resellers.

The key to navigating these challenges is to treat them as you would in a marriage — after all, the supplier/partner relationship, ideally, is a bond between two equals for a mutual greater good and happiness. Just as marriages are built on trust and need open communication, understanding and empathy, so too do channel partnerships. Suppliers need to understand the hardships partners are facing with the transition to SaaS, and vice versa. Here are three keys to happiness.

1. Ask “Are you the match for me?” During the discovery process, both parties should ask critical questions about the other company’s plans, values and vision. It’s possible a partner is simply not interested in making the jump to a recurring-revenue model. In these cases, it might be good to get the heartbreak of parting out of the way early. If your values align and you’re moving forward, think of this as a courtship. I’ve written before about how to pick the right partners, and this is an extension of that.

Partners, have your suppliers equipped you for success? Suppliers, are partners ready to accelerate into SaaS? If both truly see SaaS as the next big opportunity – and it is – then you’re ready for the next step.

One of the most important elements you need to agree on is your approach to customer service. If you align on this principle, then the magic can happen. But often, organizations forget whom they answer to: It’s ultimately the person in the field who writes you the check. You need business partners who truly understand the goals of your mutual customers. If you have world-class partners representing you in the field, you’ll look world-class too.

2. Show them the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. Even if they’re wholeheartedly ready to make the jump from hardware-only to a combined hardware-SaaS approach, there will inevitably be pain points for your partners. Don’t brush those off — be understanding about their concerns. As mentioned before, suppliers and partners who have long relied on the upfront margins of on-premises systems might have difficulties in making the change. VARs face the question of what to do when you don’t have anything to install. Remember, you’re their partner in sickness and in wealth — show them the long-term values of the SaaS model, and that it positions them to have long-term success and dozens more customers.

These are canyons you’re crossing. Don’t be (or work with) that vendor who drags everyone kicking and screaming into SaaS. Annual recurring revenue and monthly recurring revenue might be difficult to pivot to, but that’s where the market is going. For suppliers, make sure your programs offer a competitive advantage — become your partner’s best opportunity to make money. Offer incentives and reward partners who sell more, perform well with you, access new markets and find incremental value. Offering incentives is a quick way to …

  • Page 1
  • Page 2
Tags: Agents Best Practices Business Models Cloud Telephony/UC/Collaboration

Most Recent


  • Making Waves
    7 Channel People Making Waves This Week at TD Synnex, Veeam, Kaseya, Zendesk, More
    Microsoft has discovered malicious activity by a state-sponsored threat actor based in China.
  • Businessman reading cloud computing news
    Cloud Computing News: VMware, Celigo, Google Cloud, AWS Dominate the Week
    Find out what the vendors are up to this week and how partners are impacted.
  • Tech investments
    3 Ways Businesses Can Optimize Their Tech Investments
    Help customers start small, minimize risk and demonstrate business value in a condensed time frame.
  • Alvaria - Gary Levy feature for Channel People on the Move
    Channel People on the Move: HPE, Lumen, Sophos, TD Synnex, AireSpring, More
    Also featured are moves at Aryaka, Google Cloud, Ringover, Zift Solutions, Wasabi and many more.

Leave a comment Cancel reply

-or-

Log in with your Channel Futures account

Alternatively, post a comment by completing the form below:

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Related Content

  • Ransomware skull and crossbones
    JBS Did What it 'Needed to Do' with $11 Million Ransom Payment
  • Cloud Certification
    CompTIA Updates Cloud+ Certification, Drops New AI Guide for Businesses
  • White House
    White House to Private Sector SMEs: Get Serious About Cybersecurity
  • Stressed young people
    More Partner Pain Points: MSPs On Lack of End-to-End Security, 'New Normal'

Upcoming Events

View all

Channel Partners Europe

June 13, 2023 - June 14, 2023

Channel Futures Leadership Summit

October 30, 2023 - November 2, 2023

Channel Partners Conference & Expo

March 11, 2024 - March 14, 2024

Galleries

View all

7 Channel People Making Waves This Week at TD Synnex, Veeam, Kaseya, Zendesk, More

June 2, 2023

Cloud Computing News: VMware, Celigo, Google Cloud, AWS Dominate the Week

June 2, 2023

Channel People on the Move: HPE, Lumen, Sophos, TD Synnex, AireSpring, More

June 1, 2023

Industry Perspectives

View all

Dell Technologies World: Dell Apex Expanded Across On-Premises, Cloud and Edge

May 22, 2023

Identity Is Increasingly Valuable – and Targeted

May 18, 2023

Gaining a Competitive Advantage through AV Managed Services

May 10, 2023

Webinars

View all

From Problem to Profit: Mastering the Science of Selling Using Business Outcomes

May 9, 2023

Meet the 2023 Channel Futures Channel Influencers

April 13, 2023

DE&I Dialogue: How the Right DE&I Initiatives Can Propel Your Business

April 5, 2023

White Papers

View all

6 UCaaS Reseller Challenges and How Real World Businesses Solved Them

February 1, 2023

Frost Radar: North American UCaaS Market, 2022

February 1, 2023

The Complete Guide to White-Label UCaaS for Reseller Success

February 1, 2023

Channel Futures TV

View all

Coffee with Craig and James Episode No. 123: MartinWolf M&A Advisors, CP Expo Preview

UScellular Takes On Rivals with Partner Program Simplicity

April 21, 2023

OpenText Simplifying Deal Registration, Doubling Down on MDF

April 21, 2023

Everything-as-a-Service: CloudBlue Touts Critical Customer Transition

April 18, 2023

Twitter

MSP 501

The industry's largest and most comprehensive partner awards program.

Newsletters and Updates

Sign up for The Channel Report, Channel Futures Update, MSP 501 Newsletter and more.

Live Channel Events

Get the latest information on the next industry-leading Channel Partners event.

Galleries

Educational slide shows and images from live events.

Media Kit And Advertising

Want to reach our audience? Access our media kit.

DISCOVER MORE FROM INFORMA TECH

  • Channel Partners Events
  • Telecoms.com
  • MSP 501
  • Black Hat
  • IoT World Today
  • Omdia

WORKING WITH US

  • Contact
  • About Us
  • Advertise
  • Newsletter

FOLLOW Channel Futures ON SOCIAL

  • Privacy
  • CCPA: “Do Not Sell My Data”
  • Cookie Policy
  • Terms
Copyright © 2023 Informa PLC. Informa PLC is registered in England and Wales with company number 8860726 whose registered and Head office is 5 Howick Place, London, SW1P 1WG.
This website uses cookies, including third party ones, to allow for analysis of how people use our website in order to improve your experience and our services. By continuing to use our website, you agree to the use of such cookies. Click here for more information on our Cookie Policy and Privacy Policy.
X