Infor pushes partners to pick a micro-vertical

ERP vendor claims drive to double channel sales is on track

Infor is asking its partners to focus on between one and three "micro-verticals", and will ply them with specialised leads and development tools in return.

The world's third-largest ERP vendor behind SAP and Oracle last year laid out plans to double its channel business to $120-130m (£76-83m) over three years.

It has spent the last nine months recertifying partners under Infor Partner Network, its first tiered and unified partner programme. In that time, some 200 legacy partners have been shown the door, while 110 new partners, including 70 in EMEA, have been recruited.

Jeff Abbott, vice president of global alliances and channels at Infor, said indirect sales now account for almost 30 per cent of Infor's total license sales, up from 24 per cent when its channel push began.

"[Indirect sales] are hovering about 30 per cent growth, so we are on track three-quarters of the way through the first year," he said.

The next step is to drive partners to become more specialised, said Abbott. Infor has drawn up a list of 50 micro-verticals on which partners can focus.

In return, they will get preferable lead flow and access to development tools, allowing them to customise Infor's Workspace common user interface for their chosen micro-verticals.

Infor is also developing a "storefront" that will allow partners to market and sell add-on solutions to the market at large. This will be available in the summer, said Abbott.

He also admitted the recertification process had been "a chore", owing to huge number of acquisitions Infor made last decade. The final 100 of its 500 legacy partners will move across to a standard contract over the next month.

"We had a veteran legacy channel community," said Abbott. "Many of them had highly customised contracts with 60-70 per cent [margin] and we had to convince them that they would do just as well with the performance bonuses and MDF. Along the way, we have done a lot of eliminating."

The Infor Partner Network divides partners into Associate, Silver and Gold tiers, with average margins standing at 30 per cent. A Platinum tier may be launched in Infor's next fiscal year, said Abbott.