PARTNERS ’ PERSPECTIVE
Mohan Madhurakavi , Digital Transformation Evangelist , Kissflow
Vendors may offer volume discounts or licensing agreements for software purchases based on the number of licenses or subscriptions sold . Partners may receive rebates or discounts for reaching certain
partner may be making in our joint business and their growth in driving new and crosssell business across the entire platform ,” says Qualys ’ Huelskamp .
“ Even the most well intentioned pricing models , which aim to be fair to all customers , get complicated when bundling is brought into the equation . The key therefore is to understand how exactly the software product and its associated services are used . Taken forward , all sales including product sales can be seen as services sales ,” says Kissflow ’ s Madhurakavi .
So far , the traditional approach has been based on the hardware sale , plus software sales , and then additional charges for implementation and maintenance services . However , with the cloud paradigm , there has been a gradual shift towards pay-per-use . The market has therefore been moving in the
Partners who use a strong Goto-Market strategy , use Proof of Concepts , are better equipped to complete a sale and deliver enhanced services to customers .
assistance , play a crucial role in nurturing services for partners , helping them evolve into stronger solution providers . This adaptation of incentives underscores the industry ’ s responsiveness to shifting market dynamics and emphasizes the importance of incentivising partner efforts across various aspects of software and services distribution .
“ Traditional volume rebates and incentives , commonly associated with targeted hardware sales , have found new application avenues to accommodate the evolving landscape ,” BeyondTrust ’ s Mattan .
“ In today ’ s market , partners who use a strong Go-to-Market strategy , use Proof of Concepts , are better equipped to complete a sale and deliver enhanced services to customers . Partners can offer bundles for hardware , software and services as well as tailored and cost-effective subscriptionbased models through a diverse portfolio , to maximise value for customers ,” says Juniper Networks ’ Eweidat .
Similarly , channel partners can increase profitability through selling a diverse portfolio , with vendor incentives for offering bundled products and services and crossselling . Juniper Networks works closely with channel partners to offer a diverse portfolio of hardware and software products within its AI-Native Networking Platform , to enable exceptional digital transformation .
Volume rebates and incentives are often applied in a nuanced manner as the channel landscape is becoming more diversified . sales thresholds , encouraging the teams to sell more software products .
“ As the landscape continues to evolve , vendors and partners will likely adapt their incentive programmes to align with changing market dynamics , customer preferences , and technological advancements ,” adds Juniper Networks ’ Eweidat .
“ It is important to review the partner ’ s performance , particularly in terms of joint value and impact on the customer . At Qualys , we want to recognise the investments that a direction of having a set of loosely coupled white labelled components with some basic packages , and the option for customers to choose addons dynamically .
“ Product pricing varies from company to company and from time to time . The problem is the sales price most probably has little to do with the costs . It is common to see steep year end discounts with no logical reason other than meeting targets . In the case of services however , it is a cost plus model ,” adds Kissflow ’ s Madhurakavi . •
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