By Simon Quicke
4 September 2008
SAP has continued to extend its ecosystem to attract resellers
selling into the small business market that are not currently signed up with
the vendor.
The launch of the Extended Business programme follows moves
made earlier in the year to reward those channel players that became involved
in helping sell into the SME market.
Back in April the vendor made changes to its referral
process offering financial rewards for not only its own resellers that gained
new business but non-accredited dealers that ended up recommending a SAP product.
The idea behind the latest moves by SAP is to reach out to
specialist third-parties that might not traditionally feature on the vendor’s accredited
lists but can still help its own partner
network add value.
Those signing up for the Extended Business programme will
get access to resources and the same training that is offered to authorised
VARs. There are clearly more logical benefits to be gained for those companies
that align themselves with an accredited reseller.
In a statement the vendor said: “The program also aims to
help companies – those working in the broader SAP ecosystem today or those
looking to start a new SAP business – stay up-to-date with [the vendor’s]
software and technology, and effectively work with SAP partners to deliver solutions
for small businesses and midsize companies.”
