Partnerware Shifts Focus To Web Services ModelPartnerware Shifts Focus To Web Services Model

Partnerware Inc., an early player in the growing field of channel-management software, is abandoning the ASP model in favor of a configurable enterprise software license- and services-model based on Web services. The vendor believes that model will let large companies that want a centralized way to collect, plan, and measure data about channel-management processes achieve faster returns on investment and increased scalability.

"Companies today are doing channel tracking, but not channel management," says Partnerware president and CEO Donna Troy. "To get to the goal of customer intimacy you need to drag in information from the channel venue." Troy says there's another benefit from being able to closely manage the channel--many companies today embrace the channel to help lower the cost of sales, but because of the lack of visibility to that channel (and the resulting impact all the way back through to the supply chain) costs can actually increase.

On Feb. 11, the company will unveil a ground-up rebuild release of Partnerware TCX Insight, developed in Java, and its new Foresight professional services, which it says will help users evaluate channel operations including acquisition and recruiting of partners, channel management and activity process, leads distribution, and funds management, and then create configurable business workflows and business rules to optimize these processes.

The design goal of the software, built upon a Web-services architecture that uses JMS and XML for seamless integration with other enterprise apps, is to be 100% configurable to adapt in real time to a company's individual channel-management processes and business conditions, a feat that isn't possible in the cookie-cutter ASP model. Additionally, Partnerware says that its new approach will let companies deploy channel-management modules one at a time, beginning with processes that promise the highest returns, and measuring the impact of the deployment before moving on to the next process. That's a benefit for both the business and its channel partners--it provides the business with a manageable project that offers fast ROI in times when IT budgets are tight, and the channel partners with a Web-based system that delivers value without turning their business upside down every time new processes are implemented. By embracing a Web-services architecture, the software also may become an attractive proposition for companies looking to lower integration costs.

"Partnerware has taken more of a leap forward into the world of Web services," says Bob Thompson, president of FrontLine Solutions, a customer-relationship management consulting firm that specializes in partner-relationship management applications. "They understand what Web services are about, and they have a realistic approach. They're going to market with something that will be ahead of most of their competitors," and that may be attractive to companies that are moving more aggressively to Web-services standards. Thompson also says Partnerware seems to have a game plan for services, in comparison with some competitors, and its holistic approach of pairing software and services will appeal to some companies. Customers will pay about $150,000 for the base software module; services and software together can average $400,000 to $500,000.

It's important for Partnerware to find "a niche where they can close business and get on some path to profitability or some other event, such as an acquisition," Thompson says. He notes that it's a challenging time for the 3-year-old company to restart its business, especially with big-name players such as Siebel Systems Inc. now making a lot of noise in the space, and with start-ups who entered the market the same time as Partnerware, such as ChannelWave Software Inc., expecting to make money and close a fair amount of business this year. "Partnerware's road map looks good and the opportunity is there, but they've got a lot of work to do," Thompson says. "They've got a fighting chance, but it's not locked and loaded."