Orange adds new tiers and products to updated channel partner programme

With Orange (NYSE:FTE) set to become the UK’s largest network with its joint venture with T-Mobile completed in April, the firm has expanded its partner offering with three new tiers of accreditation, new products and training.

New tiers

The new programme will offer Approved Orange Partner status for smaller dealers and low volume resellers. The middle tier of Specialist Partners will cross over from the existing Federated Dealers scheme but with new trading agreements, targets and objectives. The new top tier will be Principal Partner reserved for Orange Specialist Partners who agree to exclusivity around selling of Orange products and services with a commitment to growth.

Since it launched its original Federated Dealers scheme programme in 2006, Orange has signed up 17 partners and hopes to grow to around 35 through the new more focused programme.

Products

Around July, Orange will also make available through its channel two products which it had only previously sold direct. The first is its Wirefree Extension which allows landlines and mobiles to connect across a single network offering reduced-rate calls within a closed user group and to key external contacts. Partners will also be able to sell Orange Managed VPNs to allow mobile workers to securely connect devices to corporate networks across the the vendor's 3G network without software clients.

Both products had previously only been available directly from Orange Business Services but with a sharp growth in mobile enterprise applications and recognition that channel partners were crucial in the implementation process, the firm has opened its portfolio. However, Orange products like its mobile device management service and M2M telemetry will still only be offered directly.

Market

Orange has also announced its intention to increase levels of revenue sharing, to encourage high value, long term relationships with customers although details are not available.

Part of the push into expanding the channel is the growing maturity of the smart phone market according to Steve Heald, sales director for Orange UK, “We are starting to see complex solutions built on smart phone platforms…to do business at this sharp end, you need to find people [channel] that we can add value.” Heald believes that its channel expansion is not an overnight deal but a real opportunity to built long term relationships and grows in tandem with the market.

With analyst firms like Frost and Sullivan estimating that around 250 million of the 1.3 billion mobile phones will be smart by the end of the year, the market for correspond smart applications is huge.

Support

To support its channel expansion, Orange will be offering partner support tools including bill analyses services and online sales collateral from a new extranet and partner portal. The carrier will be running an independent lead generation campaign across the year, with qualified leads falling to accredited partners.

Orange will also be moving its monthly price book to a quarterly basis to help facilitate work through longer sales cycles and ease the planning process.