The cloud is ready to handle complex business applications such as enterprise resource planning (ERP), which means NetSuite channel partners should get set for a period of great opportunity, the company’s channel chief said Monday at the company’s SuiteWorld 2012 conference.
“Cloud ERP is at a tipping point,” Craig West, NetSuite’s vice president of Channel Sales, told partners on the first day of the conference in San Francisco. “More organizations see that the most complex applications are the best solutions for the cloud -- ERP, e-commerce, HR.”
West went on to tell more than 300 partners at the conference that they are positioned to ride great growth.
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“There is a $32 billion addressable market, according to Gartner, for ERP and CRM between now and 2015, and ERP will be the larger share. And cloud ERP will outstrip traditional (licensing models).”
West said that this year, more than 400 partners with more than 3,200 attendees are at the San Francisco event, up significantly from the year before, he said. “By any metric, last year was our best year ever, with 50 percent growth of our partner business around the world, and this year we are going to keep our foot on the gas around the expectations in this space.”
West said NetSuite is investing heavily in its partner program, including in partner enablement, partner recruiting, e-mail marketing, customized video presentation, free case studies and product demonstrations.
NetSuite has also created a TCO calculator for ERP as a partner tool, increased technical support, and developed an automated, online application for reimbursement of partner marketing spending.
This year, NetSuite is growing in popularity among potential partners, West added.
“We are seeing an influx of partners trying to get into our community,” he said. “We are excited about the opportunity, but I reassure you we will be adding partners at a selected rate. We will meet capacity at all levels to meet the demands of the marketplace.”
SuiteWorld will continue through Thursday.
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