Business Objects on Tuesday unveiled a new partner initiative that gives sales, marketing and technical assistance to ISV partners that create "QuickStart Packs" of add-on functionality for the software vendor's midmarket Crystal Decisions line.
The new program is part of Business Objects' efforts to build momentum behind the new product family, which launched earlier this month. Crystal Decisions provides Business Objects' reporting, analysis, dashboards and other business intelligence tools at a much lower price tag than its enterprise software line.
Business Objects kicked off the new program with QuickStart Packs from three partners: an insurance-focused pack from INsolve and J.D. Edwards integration packs from Preferred Strategies and RapidDecision. Business Objects plans to continue rolling out additional solutions throughout the year.
"Our vision is that over the course of time, we will create a market of industry solutions," said Todd Rowe, Business Objects' general manager of worldwide midmarket business. "Partners will develop the [intellectual property], own the IP and sell it. Business Objects can resell it."
Bob Vander Woude, vice president of sales and marketing at Preferred Strategies, a Soquel, Calif.-based solution provider, is bullish about the program. Preferred Strategies was building bundles of stock templates and reports when Business Objects approached it to describe its QuickStart plans. By working so closely with Business Objects, Preferred Strategies gains from the vendor's reach and industry stature, Vander Woude said.
Business Objects is putting the QuickStart Packs on its price lists and making them available to its direct-sales staff. On deals it drives, the company is taking a commission that one partner cited as 50 percent of first-year revenue from the sale.
Rowe declined to comment on the commission structure. Though not giving numbers, Vander Woude said the deal terms leave Business Objects and the partner "heavily invested" in the sale.
And Vander Woude said it's a worthwhile investment. The marketing advantages and legitimacy offered by co-selling with Business Objects are worth the commission payment, he said.
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