Tech Data today launched StreamOne Solutions Store, a
one-stop platform designed to help solution providers more quickly and easily
sell, support, and manage sales of applications and cloud services to their
customers.
Now available to all Tech Data partners in the United
States, StreamOne Solutions Store allows solution providers to offer customers
both on-premise and Software as a Service from participating ISVs and
cloud-service providers, said Joe Quaglia, senior vice president at the
Clearwater, Fla.-based distributor, in an interview with Channel Insider. The
store is combined with StreamOne’s
Software License Selector, an online tool that guides resellers through a
few steps to ensure they are selecting the appropriate solution for their
customers.
“We’re signing ISVs and cloud providers every day. There
are hundreds of thousands of independent software vendors and cloud providers
in the market today,” said Quaglia.
Tech Data is identifying participants through existing
partnerships with developers such as Oracle, Microsoft, IBM, and Red Hat, he
said. Reseller partners recommend ISV participants, and other developers
approach Tech Data and request membership, Quaglia said. Tech
Data reviews vendors’ applications and notifies them within 24 hours, he
said. Criteria include financial viability, relevance to partners, and having
an established business, said Quaglia.
“We wanted to be in total control. We felt the value we
could offer required us to be in control. Being in control means you have to be
tightly integrated with your partner community,” added Quaglia.
Following approval, ISVs and cloud providers pay a
$1,000-per-year fee and receive the APIs necessary to become integrated into
Tech Data’s platform, he said. Participation could give ISVs and cloud
providers access to Tech Data’s community of more than 60,000 VARs in the U.S.
“Partnering with Tech Data and the StreamOne Solutions Store
will allow Aplicor to offer our innovative Cloud applications through the
channel – thousands of reseller partners,” said James Arnott, director of
worldwide marketing and channel development at Aplicor.
Resellers log-on using their Tech Data identification,
and can then view a searchable menu of participating products based on vendor
or product name, category, or criteria. Solution providers receive one invoice
for their end-customers, track their company’s sales and outstanding invoices,
and purchase clients’ software within minutes, he said.
“It’s very simple. That’s what’s taken the process from
days or hours to minutes,” added Travis Vigneau, business development manager
at Tech Data.
In addition to simplifying the often complex process of selling
software licenses, StreamOne Solutions Store will give resellers more access to
new, vertical, and niche applications, according to Tech Data.
“When our customers request niche applications we want to
deliver. The StreamOne Solutions Store will give me the visibility and
vendor relationships I need to offer my customers an array of cloud products
and services,” said Norman Rosenthal, president and CEO of Sterling Rose LLC.
StreamOne Solutions Store includes other tools such as
software reviews; vendor-provided collateral including white papers and case
studies; videos; FAQs, and social media streams for blogs and RSS feeds, for
example, said Vigneau. This provides partners with a centralized source of
information, further improving their productivity, he said.
“It’s very feature-rich,” Vigneau told Channel Insider. “Resellers
come here and learn everything they need about an application.”
Solution providers can create a quote from the platform,
which can be personalized with the VAR’s logo and other custom content such as
a message to the client or prospect. Keys for on-premise software are stored
within StreamOne Solutions Store and customers receive a VAR-logoed link to
begin provisioning hosted software.
“It looks as though it came right from the reseller,” said
Vigneau.
In addition, resellers can use consolidated billing for all
clients’ applications and services. For example, a customer that bought 14
line-items will receive one bill, not 14, he said. Also, VARs can add
promotional codes for vendor-provided discounts.
Training is available via Tech Data’s Reseller Resource
Center. It includes demonstrations and tutorial videos. Solution providers can
manage everything through the Reseller Portal, which gives channel executives
insight into short- and long-term sales; invoice information; on-hold orders;
trial programs and their expiration dates, and renewals. The digital locker
houses information on software licenses, SaaS products, provisioned software,
and billing. It also includes a holistic view of the reseller’s address book.
In its next upgrade, Tech Data plans to create a
white-label version that solution providers can share with customers, said
Quaglia.
“In the next release of StreamOne Solution Store, we are
going to create a white label version of the store to allow resellers to
repackage it, put it on their sites and properties, and represent our entire
catalog to their customers in their name and brand. It’s currently in
development and we’re expecting a late summer release on that,” he said.