RES Software performs reseller juggle

Vendor insists it is not culling its reseller base

Partners of workspace management vendor RES Software have until the end of July to re-sit their partner certification exams following a partner programme refresh.

The channel re-organisation, which follows the launch of RES' partner programme in February, will see original partners who signed up before the launch have to re-sit exams for accreditation.

The move will ensure that "fit and capable" partners are signed to the appropriate tier, according to Helen Wood, channel manager at RES Software.

She said: "Technical ability is very important to us. We do all our business through the channel, so it is particularly important that channel partners are a safe pair of hands for our end users.

"We really want to make sure partners are committed and capable.

"For example, Silver partners who maybe signed a one-off deal but are not really in our space may go down to Bronze level as they would be a more reactive than proactive partner."

Of RES' 66 VAR partners, only the original 24 will have to re-sit the exams, leaving the 42 who signed up since February free from additional tests.

All the Gold partners will remain intact, and about five Silver and Bronze partners are likely to swap places, according to Wood.

She added: "We are not culling our resellers. It is not in our interest to do that. This simply enables us to offer the correct programmes to end users."

RES is launching a new Platinum partner tier, to which four or five Gold partners may be promoted by the end of RES' financial year in December.

The tier, which operates an annual revenue gate of £370,000, will require resellers to have six certified technical staff and half of the sales force to sit a "Sales Champ" exam.