SAP has introduced its extended business program to the Australian market with a program which amalgamates hardware vendors, business consulting firms, integrators, resellers and independent software vendors, geographic locations and specialist expertise into larger networks.
The program is led by works by one Master Value Added Reseller (VAR) and in Australia SAP channel partner Extend Technologies is the first Master VAR to embrace the program locally.
Helen Masters, general manager, Growth Markets, SAP ANZ said today “SAP is committed to providing support for our partners in growing and developing their businesses, and the Extended Business Program is a formal structure that helps to provide this support.
“For example, smaller organisations that have specific geographical coverage, niche industry vertical capability or solution specific expertise, are able to partner with Extend Technologies and offer their customers SAP solutions.”
Masters said all program members will be aligned with SAP and the SAP brand, and are able to participate in tailored enablement and demand generation programs; supported by their Master VAR who is authorised to re-sell SAP solutions, with SAP and Extend Technologies providing extended business program partners with an initial induction and a tailored enablement plan; in addition to sales and pre-sales training, technical training and consultant certification.
Andrew Powell, general manager - commercial, Extend Technologies, said “people prefer to do business with companies that are based in the same city or that have specific industry expertise. The Extended Business Program network means that we’re able to assist these types of companies to enter the SAP ecosystem and access the wealth of templates, training, and accelerators available. We can enable these companies to develop strong SAP practices with compelling and relevant offers for the markets they service.”
According to Masters, the program, originally launched and trialled in the European and Asia Pacific and Japan regions, delivers “tangible value to SAP partners and companies associated with them. This augmentation is further evidence of SAP’s ongoing commitment to developing the IT ecosystem in Australia, in order to meet the needs of customers and to drive the growth of the region’s software industry.”
“We expect that SME ecosystem programs, such as the SAP Extended Business Program, will have a significant, positive impact for our Master VARs and the program members,” said Masters.
Participation in the SAP Extended Business Program is voluntary, free of charge and open to companies with an existing association to channel partners in the SAP PartnerEdge program, coupled with non-SAP specific organisations that may have a strong industry vertical or geographic expertise. The commercial cooperation between program members and VAR partners is at their discretion, and the commercial relationship between VARs and their customers remains unchanged by the new program.
