Bifurcating the Cloud Channel by API Usage

One of the things that separates one partner from another is the depth of commitment a partner makes in terms of embedding a product or service within a much larger solution. In fact, in the age of the cloud, partners that make use of application programming interfaces (APIs) to programmatically access a broader array of functions inside a cloud application are more valuable. That’s because they tend to drive much deeper usage of a cloud service than partners accessing that same service via the user interface that the cloud service provider built.

With that in mind IndependenceIT, a provider of productivity application anchored around a desktop-as-a-service (DaaS) platform delivered as a cloud service, has bifurcated its channel program into two groups based on how its service is actually invoked by partners.

IndependenceIT Elite partners are defined as organizations that package infrastructure, software, and other elements of the Cloud Workspace Suite created by IndependenceIT within offerings that they sell through their own channels. The second tier of the program is defined by partners who will sell direct to end customers, manage their own infrastructure by running Cloud Workspace Suite on their own infratructure, or leverage services from Elite partners to private label their platforms for service delivery.

In addition to rewarding Elite partners with more financial incentives for making greater use of the Cloud Workspace Suite, IndependenceIT CEO Seth Bostock said IndependenceIT is also trying to encourage partners to resell the more advanced solutions created by its Elite partners. Bostock added that IndependenceIT will also be helping those Elite partners by creating a Technical Account Management (TAM) to help with deployments, migrations, onboarding and technical support and is setting up a dedicated professional services team to and support sales engineering and other pre and post sales enablement efforts.

Thanks to the proliferation of APIs and software development kits (SDKs) it’s undoubtedly becoming simpler for solution provider to craft solutions. Providers of cloud service benefit from those efforts because they drive up usage of their service in a way that serves to ultimately lower their costs by increasing overall demand. Now it’s time for vendors to make a more concerted effort to reward the partners that make that effort.

In fact, it’s arguable that solution providers that make use of those APIs should demand greater prices breaks and extended support for making the commitment to make that service as sticky as possible within a solution they generally absorb the cost of bringing to market.