The business platform vendor works to keep its solution menu fresh, with programs for refurbishing the applications of current VARs while bringing new players up to speed fast.Progress Software this week beefed up its partner program to get VARS more proficient on its OpenEdge business applications.
The Accelerator Program makes available to partners a package of teaching resources, development tools and marketing aids. The idea is to help bring new and updated applications to market using OpenEdge technology, a standards-based platform for business applications, according to the Bedford, Mass., company.
Accelerator offers tracks for current resellers looking to refurbish solutions and freshman VARs planning to catch up on the technology and develop new applications.
"It's a one-two punch," said David Crisafi, Progress Software Corp.'s director of technical empowerment.
"With so much of our business coming from resellers, we wanted to grow the pie in everyway we can, and existing partners are the best way to secure that growth. But to evolve and remain competitive in the market you need to grow your base and bring on new technology."
Progress OpenEdge currently relies on its 2,000 partners for 70 percent of its revenue. Worldwide customers buy more than $5 billion in OpenEdge-based software applications annually, the company said.
The Accelerator program offers VARs interested in re-architecting current business applications for the OpenEdge platform a chance to break into the technology with help from the vendor, Crisafi said.
OpenEdge's SOA (service-oriented architecture) allows applications to deploy across multiple operating platforms, making it almost universally acceptable.
Click here to read about AmberPoint's SOA validation system.
Prospective partners will benefit from a three-step program:
Learning Accelerator, to bring candidates up to speed on OpenEdge technology, markets and solution advantages;
Development Accelerator, to provide the technical and financial support VARs need to move applications to the OpenEdge platform;
Market Accelerator, to provide business and strategy assistance for bringing re-architected solutions to market.
Each reseller will be treated differently based on its needs, Crisafi said, some with up-front support at every stage, some with continuous support throughout the relationship with Progress.
"There is a lot of investment in time, money and resources, not mention a learning curve for new VARs," Crisafi said. "They need help at every step if you're to ensure they're developing the best practices. We want to make sure we are helping in the right way at the right times."
New VARs may help Progress extend into different verticals or strengthen others, he added.
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Existing partners, the company's strength, will receive help in refurbishing their applications for the future.
Using the company's phased application transformation approach, resellers can assess and analyze their application and market needs, then design, build and test improved applications based on existing components.
"We want to make sure it is an evolution, not a revolution," Crisafi said. "We are happy with the applications our partners have now, but we want to make sure they are competitive. Have the market's needs moved? Has the competition? Can we keep up? If they don't succeed, we don't succeed."
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