SHARE

Vendor vs. VAR: Who Owns the Customer

One of the more contentious issues in the channel is over software license renewals because it cuts to the heart of the battle over who owns the customer: the vendor or the solution provider. Many solution providers feel strongly that the license renewal process should belong to them because it’s a tactical opportunity to have […]

Written By

Michael Vizard

Apr 11, 2007

Channel Insider content and product recommendations are editorially independent. We may make money when you click on links to our partners. Learn More

One of the more contentious issues in the channel is over software license renewals because it cuts to the heart of the battle over who owns the customer: the vendor or the solution provider.

Many solution providers feel strongly that the license renewal process should belong to them because it’s a tactical opportunity to have a strategic conversation with the end customer about their overall IT strategy. For the solution provider, this creates a time when the customer is basically forced into having a forward-planning conversation with the customer that the solution provider then uses to do some basic revenue forecasting.

Sophos Goes 100 Percent Channel. Click here to read more.

But there are those on the vendor side that would argue that solution providers do a bad job of keeping track of software license renewals and this in turn costs the vendors revenue because the customer then becomes a potential prospect for their competitor.

Some even go so far as to create a “jump ball” environment surrounding license renewals where multiple solution providers are alerted to a license renewal opportunity, even if one particular solution provider brought in the original business.

Let your voice be heard! Vote on the most significant new product introductions in the channel. Click here to fill out our online ballot.

At least one vendor sees all the consternation over license renewals as an opportunity to create a channel program where the renewal process is squarely in the hands of the solution provider.

Sophos this week launched a revamped channel program that promises to drive all the license renewal business through the channel. Now, like McAfee and Symantec, Sophos has not been 100 percent focused on selling through the channel, but now swears that, going forward, all business will be driven through its channel partners.

Click here to view exclusive channel research from Amazon Consulting.

The Sophos direct sales force will be redeployed in a direct touch model intended to drive more leads to Sophos partners and down the road the company has ambitions of creating a Sophos channel ecosystem in collaboration with some of the OEM partners that currently resell the core Sophos security engine.

Admittedly, Sophos is making a calculated shift toward the channel at a time when it knows there is strife in the security channel over licensing that is compounded by concerns about over distribution, the entry of Microsoft into the space and the general movement towards giving away core anti-virus technologies within every application sold.

So it remains to be seen how well Sophos will do in the channel, but given all the concerns in the security channel today, they will probably have less of a hard time getting a hearing from potential channel partners than any other time in recent memory.

Michael Vizard

Michael Vizard is a seasoned IT journalist, with nearly 30 years of experience writing and editing about enterprise IT issues. He is a writer for publications including Programmableweb, IT Business Edge, CIOinsight, Channel Insider and UBM Tech. He formerly was editorial director for Ziff-Davis Enterprise, where he launched the company’s custom content division, and has also served as editor in chief for CRN and InfoWorld. He also has held editorial positions at PC Week, Computerworld and Digital Review.

Vendor vs. VAR: Who Owns the Customer

Michael Vizard

Recommended for you...

Company

Categories