March 28, 2011, 11:00 AM — NetSuite hopes to entice U.K. VARs (value-added resellers) that may now be aligned with rivals like Microsoft into selling its cloud-based ERP (enterprise resource planning) software, announcing Monday that it has expanded its SP100 sales program to the U.K.
SP100, which was first rolled out last year in North America, gives resellers who sign up 100 percent of first-year subscription fees, followed by a 10 percent in subsequent years. Contracts need to be at least two years in length to qualify for the offer.
The idea is to give partners a similar experience to the up-front cash payments provided by on-premises software implementations. It could also help partners cover the costs of "up-skilling" to sell cloud-based software, NetSuite said.
As part of SP100, NetSuite is also offering a SuiteStart service that includes an enrollment fee waiver, training and marketing support. Partners can also get a NetSuite license at no cost to run their own operations, according to a statement.
The offer should be attractive to Sage and Microsoft VARs, "who have not had an on-ramp to Cloud ERP, missing out on the most significant and disruptive shift in business computing since the advent of client-server [computing]," NetSuite said.
End users in the U.K. could conceivably benefit from the program's expansion as well, according to an analyst.
"SP100 means more partners will be attracted to NetSuite," said Ray Wang, CEO of Constellation Research, via e-mail. "With more partners, NetSuite can expand out to more verticals and get closer to the 'last mile' solution customers seek."
SaaS (software as a service) vendors have had an uneasy relationship with the channel at times, since the fact that the software is delivered from the vendor's own data centers means the line is blurred over who "owns" the direct customer relationship and can benefit most from ongoing services revenues.
NetSuite itself had an ugly public breakup with a former partner, Skyytek, that ultimately led to civil litigation in 2009.
Now, Skyytek is backing SAP's Business ByDesign, an on-demand ERP suite that directly competes with NetSuite.
Chris Kanaracus covers enterprise software and general technology breaking news for The IDG News Service. Chris's e-mail address is Chris_Kanaracus@idg.com
