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Sage North America is launching a new education program that includes development symposiums, workshops and Webcasts to help partners transition their businesses to a cloud-computing model.
Sage, which is holding its Summit customer and partner conference in Washington D.C. this week, also extended its cloud application product line with new online ERP and cloud-connected application services. The vendor also unveiled the Sage Partner Marketing Platform to assist resellers with their online marketing efforts.
The Sage Partner Transition Journey program, which was designed to help partners evolve their businesses for cloud computing, actually began earlier this year with a symposium called "Firm of the Future" that examined business models that rely as much on business consulting and intellectual capital as on technology. The symposium was designed to help partners expand their service offerings around cloud-based products.
"We have a lot of partners that we want to ensure make this journey with us," said Tom Miller, vice president of channel management at Sage, in an interview.
"In today's knowledge-based economy, customers expect us to engage with them in a more strategic relationship," said John Shaver, president of Aries Technology Group, a Knoxville, Tenn.-based Sage partner, in a statement. "The knowledge that we gain from the 'Firm of the Future' symposium, from learning how to establish value pricing to becoming effective project managers and executive leaders, will serve us well as we advise our customers on incorporating cloud services into their business processes."
Stephen Blythe, CEO of Laguna Hills, Calif.-based Blytheco, one of Sage's biggest partners, said of the symposium: "I learned that I have gotten complacent and it is time for a change."
Going forward the Partner Transition Journey program will offer Webinars and Webcasts and cover different computing models including cloud computing, outsourcing, hybrid systems and open-source technology, Miller said. Partners, for example, will learn what kinds of sales volumes they need to generate in a hybrid-computing environment to be successful.
Miller added that the program, which is open to all Sage partners, also would offer solution providers the opportunity to share knowledge and best practices with each other.
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