Operationalizing a
Partner Channel
A Guide for ISVs
Developed by The Kreklow Group and Mercer-MacKay Solutions
Published April, 2014
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Introduction
Setting Expectations
Assessing your channel
Building Internal Partner Capabilities
Keys to a Successful Operationalized Program
Maturing your Partnership Program
Partner Program Infrastructure
Partner Program Basics
Partner Program Communications
Partner Newsletter
Partner Enablement Tools
Partner Program Legal Agreements
Training
Partner Program Levels
Support Levels
Summary
Contributors
Diana Kreklow, The Kreklow Group
Gail Mercer-McKay, Mercer-McKay Solutions
Theresa O’Neil, Artha Communications
Special Offer for ISV Partners
Introduction
Microsoft understands the unique requirements of ISV partners and their special role in the Microsoft partner ecosystem. We have gathered best of class information from successful ISV partners to help you operationalize your partner program to enable to scale for growth.
This paper will describe keys to a successful partner program as you begin and as the program matures. It includes recommendations of the infrastructure resources and requirements, partner program communications, tools, and legal agreements needed for a successful partner program. It also includes detailed examples of training, support, and services requirements.
Based on best practices of successful ISV partners, this guide will help you operationalize and scale your channel partner program.
This template is designed to be a living document that you can develop and extend.
Setting Expectations
Once you’ve recruited and enabled your channel partners you’re ready to operationalize your channel. This requires understanding the impact and potential impact of this growing channel to your internal systems and resources as well as understanding the needs of your partners.
Assessing your channel
Start with identifying where you are today with your channel. What’s working well and what are pain points, both internally and for the partner? Key areas to consider include:
•Training and enablement (technical as well as sales and marketing)
•Joint go-to-market management
•Services and support agreements
As you identify the needs of your partners, work with your organization—across sales, marketing, product management, engineering, and support—to determine infrastructure, staffing, and training requirements.
Building Internal Partner Capabilities
One of the first considerations is to ensure that there is a Partner Program Manager, someone whose job is to coordinate the efforts of the Partner Program internally. Understand the pains that your internal team is having and may have as the program matures and expands. Understand the needs of your channel partners. Then develop a plan across your organization to support your channel partners.
Keys to a Successful Operationalized Program
In addition to providing education and information, one of the most important aspects of a successful operationalized Channel Partner Program is consistency and followthrough.
•Stay on top of your plans and commitments. Say what you do and do what you say.
•Deliver a consistent message to your channel partners.
•Stay in regular communication with your partners. Listen more than you talk.
•Ensure that your enablement materials are complete and can be easily accessed by your partners.
•Ensure that your training programs meet the needs of various audiences (technical, sales, and marketing) and that they are being used. If they are not being used, find out why.
•Validate the sales engagement model. Is what’s happening in the field consistent with what’s in your plan? If not, find out why. Adjust your plan if needed. The action is in the field: make sure your plan supports the reality of sales engagement.
•Understand what’s needed to mature your channel partner program and take steps to move from an opportunistic model to a strategic and dynamic model.
Partner programs grow
and mature through an ongoing cycle of planning, enablement, demand generation, selling, services, and retention.
Maturing your Partnership Program
The International Association of Microsoft Channel Partners has identified four maturity levels of channel partner programs: Basic, Reactive, Proactive and Dynamic. According to the IAMCP, there are 10 different areas in where to track and increase maturity including joint business planning, pipeline, agreements, leads, sales compensation, market messaging, geography, resource utilization, customer relationship, and readiness and certifications.
The Ad-Hoc phase (Basic and Reactive) describes an opportunistic relationship in which the ISV and channel partner pursue one-off sales opportunities.
The Strategic maturity phase (Proactive) describes a relationship in which targeted joint solutions have been identified and built and for which a supporting infrastructure has been put in place. This includes templates for content and defined processes for working together.
The most mature phase, Dynamic, goes beyond the Strategic phase to automate processes, provide Partner Portals that includes software distribution, and deliver online learning management systems.
Partner Program Infrastructure
The key to progressing from a Basic or Ad-Hoc level of partner program is creating standard processes and templates. Make successes easily repeatable.
Creating consistency is key across organizational functions. The table below lists some common processes and assets that benefit from standardization.
Sales / Marketing / Technology / SupportPartner planning and joint investment / Joint solution planning and product management / Partner certifications
Sales alignment and enablement / Upgrade and product roadmap planning / Partner support models and offers
Sales/presales training, collateral / Joint go-to-market strategy / Services and support agreements
Partner marketing / Demo and lab systems
Create consistent business planning processes to make the business scalable. Ensure that sales and marketing materials are consistent so that channel partners know what to expect. Identify and create repeatable solutions in targeted markets that your team and the channel partner teams can focus on.
Offer training or certification programs to ensure a consistent technical experience for your customers, regardless of the channel partner.
Make sure channel partners have software license agreements and maintenance and support agreements to provide a level of support for them that is consistent with what you deliver to your customers.
Partner Program Basics
There are basic infrastructure requirements to support a channel partner program. These are represented below, shown under the ISV organization that is typically responsible.
It’s essential to have a Partner Program Manager, who is responsible for coordinating and leading the efforts of the Partner Program internally. The Partner Program Manager ensures that the ISV partner team delivers on its commitments to the channel partners.
Sales / Marketing / Technology /Support / Product
Management / Training / Legal/Admin / Partner
Program
Manager
Opportunity Centralized support ISV Partner License Program
managementtraining agreements, Administration
NDA
GTM management / Technical content / Contracts / Rhythm of businessSales & marketing content / Certifications / Revenue reporting
PR and Marketing communications / Competencies
Joint Case Studies / CSAT
Partner Program Communications
When creating partner communications, consider internal and external audiences.
Internal Audiences
•Executive leadership
•Sales and technical organizations
•Partnership webinars, training
External Audiences
•Partner portal for collaboration and self-service capability
•Partner learning portal
•Community: Updates, Social, Blog
•Software distribution
Partner Newsletter
As part of your partner program communications, consider a monthly or quarterly newsletter. Make sure the newsletter has information that helps educate your partners on the value your software delivers. You can include recent news, customer wins, case studies, and upcoming events.
The following table provides a template for creating and organizing meaningful content.
Section / Title / Body / Word CountHeadline Article / High Impact Title / Short summary of the content leading to a Read Morehyperlink / 60 to 80 words
Sub Article 1 / High Impact Title / Sales focus – a link to content that would appeal to sales leading to a
Read Morehyperlink / 20 to 30 words
Sub Article 2 / High Impact Title / Technology focus – a link to content that would appeal to engineering leading to a Read Morehyperlink / 20 to 30 words
Sub Article 3 / High Impact Title / Support focus – a link to content that would appeal to managed services and support leading to a Read Morehyperlink / 20 to 30 words
By the Numbers / A Stat that
Would Appeal to the Audience / A short section that raises some good number – eg: Did You Know we ranked #1 on CSAT; Did You Know Are 22 on the list of Top Providers; Did you Know we invest $6M in our new data center / 20 to 30 words
Case Study / A summary of a win / 30 to 40 words
Events / What is
Happening / Customer seminars, training sessions, other events to be aware of / Calendar
A finished newsletter published by Cisco/NetApp for its channel partners and sales teams—created using the content template—is below. (Credit and thanks to David Pugh of Cisco for allowing us to share this template which he created.) The top of the
newsletter includes the Headline Article with a link to Read More.
The second part of the Newsletter includes three Sub-Articles that focus on Sales, Technology, and
Support as well as a “By the Numbers”—an
statistic of interest to the audience.
The final portion of the newsletter includes a
Customer Win or Case
Study, upcoming Events, and key contact information.
Partner Enablement Tools
Make sure that you have consistent and up-to-date enablement tools and that they are easily accessed by your channel partners. A basic checklist of tools includes:
•Sales presentations (technical and business)
•Partner program overview collateral
•Partner playbooks
•Pricing tools and configurators
•Product documentation
•Joint Go to Market Strategy oJoint Go to Market Plan oRelationship mapping oMarketing campaigns oMarketing collateral o Sales enablement
Partner Program Legal Agreements
You will also need to work with your legal team to ensure the proper legal agreements are in place as you successfully recruit partners and win customers. The basic set of agreements that you will need include:
•Non-disclosure agreement (NDA)
•Memorandum or Letter of Understanding (MOU or LOU)
•Letter of Intent
•Alliance Agreement
•Reseller Agreement
•Software License Agreement
•Support and Maintenance Agreement
•Services Agreement
In some cases—such as the NDA, license agreement, and support agreements—the partner agreements may be very similar to your customer agreements. One strategy is to start with your customer agreements and revise them according to the specific needs of your channel partners.
Training
Training—both technical and sales and marketing—is key to the success of your partner program. Consider the content and how you will make it available. The content may be based on direct sales training programs and customer training programs. You will, however, need to consider the specific needs of your channel partners.
For example, systems integrators may need training multiple times as new projects are initiated and as new consultants come on to the project. How can you deliver training with the resources you have? Can you support training across global time zones? Can you operationalize your training by making courseware available On Demand?
A successful partner
training infrastructure requires you to design the content and delivery, train your partners, implement the program, and support your partners over time.
Depending on your software, your organization, and your channel partners strategy you may have multiple training paths for various roles in the channel partner organization. A sample is below:
Different roles within the channel partner may require different training paths.
Partner Program Levels
You may consider implementing a tiered partner structure, where the partners that commit to deliver the highest amount of revenue receive additional resources. A Tiered Partner Program allows your organization to invest the most in those channel partners with the highest potential for and commitment to revenue. The tiers are represented both in the commitment of the channel partner and the benefits delivered by the ISV partner.
The following chart shows levels of commitment by the channel partner.
PartnerLevel / Sales / Marketing / Technology Tr / aining
Premier
Plus / •Win 5 joint • opportunities
•Pipeline: •
$100,000,000 •
•Recognized market leader in Select
Industry
•VAR Agreement in place
•OEM Agreement
(possible) / Joint press release Case Studies Joint solution development / •ISV Partner Certification • • Industry Practice
•CRM / Industry practice •
•Industry Consultants •
(>25) • / Shadowing & mentoring Advanced
Intermediate
Basic
Premier / •Win 3 joint • opportunities
•Pipeline:
$50,000,000
•Regional Go-toPartner with some global reach
•VAR agreement / Joint solution development / •ISV Partner Certification •
•Industry Practice with •
CRM intent •
•Industry Consultants (>5)
•Complimentary to solution stack / Advanced
Intermediate
Basic
Select / •Win 1 joint • opportunity
•Pipeline: Up to $20,000,000
•Market share in local geography
•Non contractual / Local event presence / •Desire to build Industry • practice within 18
months
•Industry Consultants / Basic
The Channel Partner, in turn, receives additional benefits for a higher level of commitment. The chart below show a sample tiered benefits for channel partners.
Benefit / Premier Plus / Premier / SelectEnablement resources
Welcome partner kit / / /
Monthly partner newsletter / / /
Partner technical webcasts/blogs / / /
Product documentation / / /
Partner delivery and test documents / /
Customer demonstration resources / /
Business development manager / /
Project management methodologies /
Marketing Benefits and Tools /
Marketing Benefits and Tools
Leverage ISV brand/logos / / /
Joint customer success stories / / /
Partner marketing kit / /
Public relations support & guidelines /
Marketing development funds /
Sales Benefits and tools
Partner sales kit / / /
Sales and technical sales support / / /
Sales and technical training / /
Resell ISV training at partner discount /
Consulting Support Services
Prime or subcontract ISV consultants / / /
Advisory business support (40 hours) /
Advisory business support (100 hours) /
Support Levels
You may also want to consider providing different tiers of support to your channel partners, particularly if you offer tiered support to your customers. Partners may earn premier support by virtue of their partnership level or they may pay for premium support. An example follows.
PartnerLevel / Sales / Marketing / Technology
Premier
Plus / •Win 5 joint opportunities
•Pipeline: $100,000,000
•Recognized market leader in Select Industry
•VAR Agreement in place
•OEM Agreement
(possible) / •Joint press release
•Case Studies
•Joint solution development / •ISV Partner Certification
•Industry Practice
•CRM / Industry practice
•Industry Consultants (>25)
Summary
By operationalizing channel partner programs, ISV partners position themselves to scale for growth. Beginning with an honest assessment of the needs of the channel partners and the capabilities of the ISV partner the Partner Program Manager can build a realistic operational plan.
ISV partners can mature their partner programs from Ad-Hoc to Strategic and Dynamic by standardizing content and processes. By providing a strong infrastructure standardized set of information, tools, and other resources, the Partner Program Manager positions the ISV to grow through a successful channel partner program.
Contributors
Building Your Microsoft Partnership Plan, A Guide for ISVs is part of a five-part educational series for Microsoft ISV Partners that includes webinars and how-to guides such as this one.
The series was based on industry best practices experiences of its contributors, who have an average of more than 25 years helping ISVs grow.
Diana Kreklow, The Kreklow Group
Enthusiastic and insightful, Diana Kreklow cut her business teeth in sales and sales management at some of the world’s best organizations including Microsoft, IBM, Attachmate and Computer Associates. Her responsibilities included the development and management of partnership strategies, business and solutions development, marketing innovation and performance reporting. She enjoys working collaboratively with virtual teams, managing complex multi-partner engagements and developing partner and channel programs that deliver results.
Able to skillfully navigate the challenges facing both smaller partners right through to some of the largest ISV’s, she has successfully built programs that include alignment with market leaders such as IBM Global Services, Accenture, McKinsey Consulting, Cap Gemini, Hitachi, HP and Dell. Her industry experience includes Financial Services,
Distribution, Healthcare, Public Sector and Manufacturing.
Gail Mercer-McKay, Mercer-McKay Solutions
With over twenty-five years' experience, Gail Mercer-MacKay works as a leader in the Microsoft ecosystem helping partners create compelling marketing communications stories. Prior to founding Mercer-MacKay over seven years ago, Gail was VP Sales and Marketing for an ISV, taking the organization from start-up to a multi-million dollar software company with clients across North America, Europe and Asia-Pacific.
Gail serves as a Board Member at both the Canadian and International level of IAMCP –
International Association of Microsoft Channel Partner and is a Business Advisor at the Research Innovation Center in Mississauga where she guides entrepreneurs looking to start and grow their business. She is the recipient of two awards for community leadership for her role as founder and director of "A Woman's Write", a program for patients suffering from mental health disorders at St. Joseph's Hospital.