Pasporte seeks partners for ASP alliance

Company seeks up to 80 channel partners

Application service provider (ASP) Pasporte is looking to recruit up to 80 channel partners for its Synergy Partner Alliance Programme, launched last week.

Peter Gee, director of strategic alliances at Pasporte, said the company believed it had a viable proposition for the channel.

"We are looking for about 80 reseller partners and we expect 20 per cent of these to do business within the calendar year," he said. "Resellers can decide their own margins by choosing what support to offer customers themselves and what to offer through us."

John Bateman, operations manager at reseller Satelcom, said resellers understand user needs best, and a flexible ASP offering benefits customers by providing services appropriate to their businesses.

"The real differentiator is the attitude of the company providing the hosting. In the past many have been arrogant and have acted like they know all the answers to a customer's business," he said.

Gary Woodward, chief executive at Pasporte, said: "The channel is crucial to our sales success because of its unique level of customer contact and knowledge."

The company has spent time working with a small number of resellers to fine-tune its offering before going out to the channel. "We have been pretty quiet because there have been a few ASP failures, but we have been busy investing in getting on with the business and specifically developing a channel," said Gee.

He added that Pasporte had devised a business model which encompassed a variety of applications as well as service packages.

"We work with a wide range of partners to deliver ebusiness solutions as a remote managed service. We will help resellers with skills to support customers and we will also help them close deals," said Gee.

He explained that the approach would mean more customers. "Companies offering ASP services have fallen foul because they have not won enough contracts."