Infor Creates VAR Council To Improve Channel Communications

Looking to strengthen relationships with its 1,400 VARs, software giant Infor Global Solutions has created a channel partner advisory council to tap into the channel's market expertise and provide resellers with information about the vendor's marketing and technology directions.

While Infor has several other vehicles for communicating with its solution provider partners, including conference calls several times each quarter for specific topics such as product launches, the new North American Channel Advisory Council is designed to provide a more established vehicle for two-way communications, said Dennis Michalis, senior vice president of global partners at Infor.

"We just needed that line of communication and means of discussion with our channel partners," Michalis said. "Frankly, we need to carry more water to help them grow."

Infor, which was created through a series of acquisitions that included SSA Global and GEAC, sells a broad array of business applications and is generally considered to be the third-largest supplier of business software behind SAP and Oracle. About 20 percent of Infor's license sales are through the channel.

The council provides Infor with a means of communicating to the channel the vendor's product road map and technology direction, and to better communicate its marketing messages, according to Michalis. In return, Infor also plans to use it to tap into resellers' expertise in specific markets,. "The list is longer than my arm," Michalis said of the reasons for establishing the council.

Michalis said it would be up to the council members to develop an agenda of items they want Infor to address.

Initially the council consists of six solution providers representing a cross-section of geographies, domain expertise and carried Infor products. The resellers, who Michalis declined to identify, were nominated by Infor regional channel managers.

VARs will sit on the council for rotating annual terms, Michalis said. Later this year, Infor will launch similar councils for the Europe/Middle East/Africa and Asia/Pacific regions.

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