Appfire Partner Exec on Flow Acquisition & Ecosystem Growth

Independent software vendor Appfire builds tools and technologies to simplify, automate, and improve the experience of users across products from leading companies such as Atlassian, monday.com, and others.

SVP of Global Channel and Field Operations Colin Puckett shared details on the latest acquisition, how the company approaches industry demand, and more in an interview with Channel Insider.

Flow builds on multi-ecosystem approach for Appfire partners, customers

Appfire announced its acquisition of Flow in early February. The platform delivers an enterprise software product built to provide software engineering intelligence (SEI). The platform collects data from disparate sources across an engineering team’s workflow to provide more accurate insights into operational efficiencies and ROI metrics.

“Flow is a really interesting opportunity for us, because it sits above ecosystems, meaning it can integrate with all of them while also operating independently,” Puckett said. “This provides that single pane of glass view into DevEx and developer productivity that so many organizations need.”

A few key aspects of this acquisition, according to Appfire, include:

• Broader Support for Engineering Leaders: The acquisition expands Appfire’s product portfolio in the SEI space, enabling tailored support for CTOs, CPOs, and engineering leaders at all levels.
• Enhanced Development Optimization: By leveraging Flow’s proven capabilities and introducing them into Appfire’s product stack, Appfire will be able to further empower partners to provide users with optimized development processes and increase their delivery efficiency across entire organizations.
• Ecosystem Integration: Flow seamlessly integrates with everyday tools like Jira, GitHub, Azure DevOps, and GitLab and complements some of Appfire’s most-used products, including 7pace Timetracker and BigPicture PPM, spanning diverse engineering ecosystems.

Puckett says he has already heard from current Appfire partners that are interested in learning how this acquisition translates into opportunities, and he says the company remains committed to its channel-first motions.

“This doesn’t tie us, or our partners, down to any particular set of tools. There’s a lot of opportunity for our partners also in how they can utilize this in their wider services offerings for clients looking for engineering transformation.”

Aggressive growth and innovation aim to keep up with buying shifts

Puckett told Channel Insider in October the company viewed acquisitions as a key part of its overall growth strategy, which also includes innovating its own product roadmap to address needs in the market.

“AI is, of course, creating a lot of exciting opportunities for us from an innovation standpoint. As the large vendors start to integrate it more, there are things ISVs used to provide that might not be relevant to the systems anymore,” Puckett said. “But we also get to experiment with it and use AI, and we get to now be even more creative in how we provide value.”

Growth and innovation, though, are only one component of the wider positioning Appfire seeks in a changing market. As Puckett notes, broader shifts in customer buying journeys and how large vendors approach their own ecosystems are also directly impacting how Appfire approaches the future.

“The idea of a marketplace, and how buyers want to shop for tech, that’s super exciting to see,” Puckett said. “The way you can now use credits from, say AWS, to buy other companies’ solutions in the marketplace, and the way so many of these product ecosystems are starting to work together a bit more, it’s a really exciting time for us.”

“Marketplaces themselves are an ages-old idea, but the way these platforms are expanding and innovating is just evolving rapidly. We thrive on change, and we think it’s a great opportunity to grow and dig deeper into the market.”

Puckett sees the increase in companies working together as a net positive for the end customer, who everyone in the channel ultimately works for.

“Where the platform, the solution provider, and the tech vendors partner well, and work together well, that’s ultimately where the customer wins,” Puckett said. “Because really, that’s multiple teams of experts all obsessing over the needs of the customer.”

How Appfire partners grow with the company

Puckett also notes that as Appfire expands across ecosystems and moves deeper into non-IT use cases, its partners are often along for the ride. Increasingly, as M&A and private equity trends consolidate smaller shops into larger solution providers, Appfire finds its partners often have related companies or business units focused on the various products it grows to include.

“As we build and grow, we can take our best partners with us,” Puckett said. “Pretty often, we reach out to a partner and say, ‘hey, we’re looking to expand into this ecosystem, do you want to add this to your portfolio,’ and they’ll come back and tell us they have a sister company or a different business unit that already does business with that vendor. It’s led to some great, warm hand offs for us and it’s helped us grow, too.”

Appfire, as stated above, is a channel-first organization with reseller and solution provider partners worldwide. Puckett says he knows those partners have a variety of options in the marketplace, and he and his team are committed to building an experience that keeps them with Appfire.

“The idea of the channel and of partnerships, we’re really having a moment right now. I’ve had several people reach out to me and ask for advice on starting channel programs at their own businesses. It’s an exciting time to be doing this work,” Puckett said. “But, at the same time, we know that our partners have a lot of options, and they don’t have to give us the time of day if we haven’t earned it from them.”

“It’s table stakes, really, to just have a good product that works. We need to provide a better experience for our partners than what they can find elsewhere.”

The channel continues to evolve to meet businesses’ needs and expectations worldwide. Read about the latest partner program announcements and how programs are changing with the channel.