The VAR Guy

What recession? Those two words summarize the mood within Opengear, which has doubled its open source console server market business since this time last year. And yes, the channel played a significant role in that success, The VAR Guy has learned. Here’s the scoop.

In January 2009 I wrote my first blog here: “Open Source Channels: Critical But Different.” My goal was to  explore, question, and understand how open source is changing the world of partner programs and channels as we know it today. I posed more questions than I had answers to so I thought it would be interesting to look back and see if the picture is any clearer.

xTuple is a small open source company with big plans. A prime example: The maker of enterprise resource planning (ERP) software has launched an xChange Online App Store for customers and channel partners. Here’s the scoop, from The VAR Guy.

In my previous blog entries (Part I and Part II),  I discussed our need at Magento (an open source ecommerce specialist) to create meaningful distinction between partner levels that would ultimately drive value for partners, customers and Magento. Now, let’s take a closer look at the effort.

I’ve seen my share of  ill conceived and  ineffective partner programs and I’ve often wondered why that is the case. As discussed a few weeks ago in “The Secret to A Successful Partner Program,” one of the basic elements of any successful partnership is creating a win-win relationship. But how do you know what is most important to a partner, how they decide who is strategic and who isn’t, and what they need from software vendors to be successful?

During the recession — as direct sales teams work overtime to close deals — I am sure many high-tech companies have asked themselves: “Why have channel partners?” While it is a valid question that elicits lots of healthy debate, there is really only one right answer – it’s the revenue. This may be obvious to some, but when you look closely at many partner programs — especially open source partner programs — it is sometimes difficult to determine how partner initiatives drive revenue for the company.

Now that we’ve launched The Open Source 50, I’ll help readers to explore, question, and understand how open source is changing the world of partner programs and channels as we know it today — and most importantly how we all adapt and continue to grow. What made a good partner program before may not make sense in the open source world and the drivers or reasons why companies partner may now be very different. Here’s why.

When it comes to Linux, most U.S. headlines involve Canonical, Novell or Red Hat. But another Linux distribution — from Mandriva S.A. of Paris, France — is making a name for itself in the global IT channel. Consider this: More than 2,000 IT partners have lined up to back Mandriva, up from about 1,200 in 2007, The VAR Guy has learned. Here’s the scoop.

If you’re an open source software company building an IT channel partner program, The VAR Guy wants to hear from you. Participate in the Open Source 50 survey, and your company could be ranked among the top open source businesses working with VARs, solutions providers, integrators and managed service providers. Deadline for participation is December 18.