Scalable Software is looking to flip its predominantly direct go-to-market sales strategy by putting everything through channel partners in the UK.
The firm, which produces IT asset management software, says the move is designed to build on its global market performance, something it feels it could be taking a larger chunk of. Spearheaded globally by the vendor's SVP of sales, Danny Rowark, and headed up in the UK by EMEA channel director, Ian Doherty, Scalable believes the move demonstrates a sign of its commitment to the channel.
"In terms of [indirect] revenue, it's not where it should be," says Rowark, and as a result, the company has decided that "our go-to-market now is going to be partner-led and partner-driven."
"It's an exciting period. We really haven't done this before; historically we've worked on an ad-hoc basis with some partners, but we've formalised the structure around the partner network," he tells Channel Pro, exclusively.
New partner programme and distributor
As part of the makeover, Scalable debuted its 'Scalable Partner Network (SPN)' in January. The programme will concentrate on "engagement, enablement and empowering partners to develop expertise in the Scalable value proposition," says the vendor.
In return, it says partners will drive sales of the Scalable SaaS subscriptions and deliver implementation services.
The company wanted to keep the new programme "as simple as possible", explains Rowark, with just one partner tier "to make it easy to for partners engage". The Scalable will also offering training, accreditation and support as part of the package.
"It's essential for me, as sales leader, that our revenue is sourced, supported or driven by our partner ecosystem. To be successful we're heavily reliant on our partners. Now that we have formalised the programme, we will hopefully attract some of the best partners and that we're moving in the right direction," says Rowark.
The company has also taken on UK distributor Prianto to provide it with much-needed partner numbers and help "build a robust network in the UK". Having previously engaged with only three channel partners, Scalable hopes having access to hundreds of new resale opportunities will give it the sales boost it is looking for.
It adds that launching a dedicated partner network "is a significant step forward" for the vendor. "We want to extend our reach in the UK and grow our brand," says Rowark, citing Prianto's "understanding of the enterprise market and the customer challenges and how to address them".
The timeframe on the plans is immediate; following the Prianto signing all Scalable business will be "entirely channel-led," says Rowark.
In a statement, the company says that "working with established experts in an ecosystem of partners will enable us to extend our reach, and grow brand awareness in a fraction of the time. It's important to align the business with experienced enterprise focused partners that can drive customer acquisition and deliver satisfaction and loyalty."
Digital fingerprint
Founded in 2008, the London-headquartered company offers a SaaS-based "asset-intelligent platform that helps customers make smarter IT decisions", particularly when a customer is considering migrating to the cloud.
The solution examines an organisation's IT infrastructure and provides a 'digital fingerprint' of its on-premise estate, SaaS-based apps, mobile and cloud environment so they can see what IT they're working with. It then looks at usage and provides recommendations around optimisation that it says helps customers' migration or transformation journeys.
Scalable says the decision to move to a to-tier sales model "comes in response to a number of substantial opportunities presented to help accelerate customers transformation, modernisation and migration plans".
The software asset management (SAM) market alone is expected to grow 14.8% from $1.16 billion in 2017 to $2.32 Billion by 2022, according to one 2018 MarketsandMarkets report.
Rowark says that once the new go-to-market strategy has had around six months to prove its worth in the UK, the plan is to implement the model in other key markets in EMEA. "I am connected to this success as sales leader," says the exec. "That's why we've invested heavily in it and have got a dedicated resource supporting it."
