TomTom Work set for partner scheme
Vendor aiming to build stronger ties with IT resellers with its Connected Selling programme
Global Positioning System vendor TomTom Work has stepped up its assault on the IT channel with the launch of its first formal partner programme.
Founded nine months ago on the back of parent TomTom’s acquisition of fleet-management vendor Data Factory, TomTom Work aims to build stronger ties with IT resellers through its Connected Selling programme.
Jeremy Gould, UK sales manager at TomTom Work, said: “We had no partner programme in place in 2006, but we’ve reached a level where we need a strategy to successfully manage the growth of our partners.
“It is an opportunity for IT VARs to add value by connecting our standard navigation and training solution to a customer’s ERP or scheduling system.”
Gould added that the vendor aims to strengthen its network of 20 VARs in a “controlled manner”, with VARs in Greater London, south Wales and the south west high on his wish-list.
The programme allows VARs to progress through three tiers based on sales. Top-tier gold partners must sell more than 250 navigation software subscriptions annually, netting them free training, sales support, recurring commission and sales leads.
However, Gordon Wilkinson, marketing manager at TomTom Work partner Microlise, argued that the solution would be ill-suited to traditional IT VARs.
“No one is going to pay to see dots on a map unless the VAR can identify real business benefits around the product,” he said. “It’s not a simple sale.”
Pierre Lams, founder of mobility VAR Handheld PCs, which works with rival enterprise navigation and tracking vendor ALK, said: “As a VAR, we would be interested in hearing more about TomTom Work.”