CRN Exclusive: Alfresco Boosts Channel Relationship With Launch Of New Partner Program

Alfresco Software, which provides open-source enterprise content management and business process management solutions, is introducing a new partner program aimed at firing up its channel sales.

The San Mateo, Calif.-based company hopes its new program will grow its channel so that by the end of 2016, up to 70 percent of its business will go through partners.

"Our new partner program will allow us to more richly reward those partners that are proactively driving their Alfresco business," said Bob Crissman, vice president of global channel programs and sales at Alfresco. "We built this program to help our partners succeed, and the addition of a new partner portal is the key to that success. We have a growing community of system integrators, software vendors, infrastructure providers and resellers who are building phenomenal solutions with Alfresco."

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Alfresco Software partners will have access to an array of benefits, including deal registration and co-marketing funds, as well as training and business planning sessions with dedicated channel account managers.

Partners will also have access to Alfresco’s newly developed partner portal, which includes the ability to sync with Salesforce, lead registration, sales tools, sales and marketing collateral, training information, and leads.

The partner program is organized into three categories -- strategic certified, premier certified and authorized.

"We have a strong partner value proposition at Alfresco that resonates with next generation solution providers," said Crissman. "We have the industry leading ECM and BPM open source technology platform that allows partners to build very robust applications that solve their customers' business problems in a simple and modern way."

Alfresco hopes its partner program will help recruit super-regional solution providers, as well as streamline the Alfresco OEM program and drive greater focus with the company's existing key technology partners.

Adam Storch, vice president of business solutions at Micro Strategies, a Malvern, Pa.-based Alfresco strategic certified partner, praised the new program as an avenue for his company to build a tighter relationship with Alfresco.

"Alfresco's program brings reasons to tighten the relationship, with more deal registrations, more co-marketing opportunities and a more formalized way for how we work with them," Storch said. "It allows us to have a tighter relationship with them. With the enhanced partner program, our expanding partnership and our technical expertise, we anticipate delivering more innovative solutions to a broader range of customers."

Micro Strategies, which brings both hardware and business solutions to large enterprise customers in the financial segment, could benefit from Alfresco's new co-marketing opportunities and training sessions, added Storch.

"The marketing aspects are a really big deal. … It allows us to get our co-branded solutions out there," he said. "The training piece has also really improved."

Alfresco has been ramping up its channel efforts under Crissman over the past year, by creating the Partner Solutions Framework -- which shares results and customer feedback from use cases to help partners better understand which solutions are successful.