SAP Brazil Eyes SMBs As It Revamps Channel Strategy

SAP has come about halfway toward its announced goal of reaching 100,000 worldwide customers by the end of the decade, and half of those users are small and medium-sized companies, said Zenos Strazzeri, medium enterprises channels director, at SAP Brazil.

SAP Brazil revamped its channel strategy this year, reorganizing its territorial and vertical makeup. SAP SMB partners are playing a key role in this strategy, SAP Brazil exceuives said.

The 55 VARs that make up SAP's Partner Edge program in Brazil, and that work with SAP's Business One and All-In-One systems, already have vertical guidelines, but these will be re-emphasized, said Danielle Allocca, SME channels manager, said.

"In the future, the idea is that partners stay focused on industries, always aiming to provide more value to the client, and, this way, to obtain better ROI," she said. One primary example of the focus on vertical markets is the partnership with solution provider XTR, which is working to disseminate SAP tools among Brazilian education market.

In addition, partnerhips are underway in the health, engineering, construction and agribusiness services areas. "Our role is to create channels to serve the white spaces, such as the retailer market. Now, we have a predefined guidelenes for this sector, with a training and benefits program," says Strazzeri.

In addition, Allocca said attention is being paid to greater inclusion of ISVs, which are now called SSPs (SAP Solution Partners) by the company, in the Partner Edge. "Last year, we had 13 of them. Now they total 25 and byl late 2008, there should be a total of 30 ISVs," Allocca said. The connection with the SSPs is directed to the small-sized companies' strategy, Allocca said.

In addition, SAP Brazil is continuing with its channel integration of business intelligence software vendor Business Objects (BO), said Strazzeri. "Partners management team is the same, while each company's channels continue following their own policies."

However, Strazzeri said that next year both of the networks may operate under the same umbrella. "Any BO channel can already sell SAP solutions, since it accomplishes the necessary certifications, and vice-versa," Strazzeri said.

This story originally appeared in Portuguese here.