(WEB HOST INDUSTRY REVIEW) — Managed hosting provider PEER 1 Network Enterprises (www.peer1.com) announced on Thursday it has launched a channel sales division that brings its referral and reseller programs under one unit.
The move is a part of the company’s overall strategy to grow its channel revenue after years of being a direct sales-focused hosting services provider.
As Peer 1 continued to grow organically and through acquisitions, such as last month’s VIA Net.Works buy, it found itself with channel programs for resellers and for referral partners in its different solution segments.
In September 2008, the company launched consolidated but individual programs for reseller and referral partners, before uniting the two together in a single integrated program last November.
“We learned we really needed to simplify and make it easier for partners to work with us,” says Lee Hadsock, worldwide channel manager at Peer 1. “So we created a single partner agreement that allows partners to resell or refer their customers to Peer 1, which ever works best for them, instead of having to change their business model to work with us.”
With this groundwork, the company decided to launch a dedicated channel sales division to offer better support for partners.
In doing so, Peer 1 hopes to realize its goal of growing its channel business from the current 20 percent of revenue to 50 percent within five years.
The company will be adding a range of partner tools and offerings in the next few months, as well as launch a partner portal in May that includes integrated deal registration, a partner relationship management tool, and online tool kits.
The portal will also support a partner training program slated to launch in fiscal 2011, at which time Peer 1 also plans to launch MDF and co-marketing programs.
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