8:00 Chairperson Welcome and Opening Remarks

Mike Morgan
COO
FOUNDATION NETWORKS

8:15 Keynote: Today’s Challenge of Confronting the Economic Downturn by Building a Stronger Partner Network to Prepare for Future Market Developments

In an economic recession, maintaining revenue is the number one objective of sales organizations and the key to this success is effectively managing the channel partner network. The expectation to maintain or even increase sales leads many vendor companies to expand their partner networks at any cost. Other companies choose to focus on best performance and direct marketing resources to support these solution providers. However, few companies are looking at the current market situation as an opportunity to prepare for the future and focus on partner enablement. How can you prepare to take advantage of the market upswing in the future?

Learn how to:

• Ensure that you partner strategy is aligned with your corporate goals
• Focus on building partner loyalty and trust
• Define programs to ensure partner profitability in tough economic times

Geoff Fancher
Vice President
US Field Channels, Cisco Systems

9:00 Developing a Cohesive Partner Program through Leveraging Business Intelligence about the Existing and Potential Partner Networks

In an attempt to drive sales numbers, many vendor companies focus on expanding their partner networks. In practice, this often means selecting partners based on too little information or based upon local knowledge which compromises success on regional or global basis. In this session learn how to put together a channel partner strategy that takes into account your existing go-to-market approach. Based on your current product offerings and distribution channels understand gaps in your market coverage and identify necessary qualities in potential new partners for launch products.

Learn how to:

• Analyse channel partner capabilities and compare them to your customer types through matching characteristics and segments with partner resources, geographical presence and independent marketing capabilities
• Map out partner capabilities versus your revenue goals to determine gaps in reaching key customer segments and to understand the economic impact of these gaps on your revenue
• Identify new partners and analyze what specifically the partner will bring to the vendor against your overall sales strategy (from a geographic, industry segmentation, horizontal and vertical market depth)

10:15 Panel Discussion: Channel Rules of Engagement and Partner Recruitment

Using an accreditation or certification scheme to segment a partner network or partner channel has been the accepted approach among vendor companies to build stronger partner relationships. However, this “one size fits all” strategy may not be appropriate in all circumstances, especially when companies continue to innovate suites of products or introduce new products. In this session, learn from leading companies’ experiences how they made the decision to implement either an accreditation/certification program or value based segmentation.

Learn how to:

Accreditation and Certification

• Create and manage accreditation and certification criteria
• Ensure compliance to the accreditation program

Value Based Segmentation

• Attract quality partners through compensation, benefits or financial incentives
• Render a partner program compelling and market partner programs to potential future channels

Moderator:

Lawrence M. Walsh
Vice President & Group Publisher
Channel Insider

Panelists include:

Panasonic – over 1600 channel partners, average percentage value of services end customers buy per dollar unit of product sold: 50%

Coyote Point Systems – a recently re-launched, 3 tired channel partner program, up to 40% margin opportunities for resellers on select products

11:15 Partner Performance Management And Optimization – Expanding Partner Networks And Integrating Partner Programs

Vendor companies seek incremental customer opportunities, value-add solutions, commitment to training and provision of superior customer satisfaction from indirect channels. In essence, they strive for an extension of direct sales force. However, despite how seamless a current arrangement between a vendor and its partners may be, expansion of partner networks typically involves growing pains of merging different cultures, strategies and selling objectives. In this session learn how to:

• Ensure that your partner strategy is aligned with your corporate direction for marketing, customer targeting, product differentiation and back office system processes
• Benchmark your new combined program versus your competition
• Define budget tools and systems and ensure funds necessary
• Understand the impact on your back office
• Spot early signs of conflict

Chaitra Vendullapalli
Sr. Director, Product Management
Microsoft

1:00 Double Sesion: Formalizing and Globalizing Channel Partner Programs

Part One – Sophos Case Study

In the current economy, vendor companies can not afford to operate without visibility into partner performance and clear performance measurement structures. Channel programs that have developed organically and over time at emerging and mid-size vendors lack some of the critical components to attract new partners and manage their performance such as training platforms, formal lead management programs and joint marketing initiatives. This often leads to confusion, conflict and even breach of trust with partners. This session will discuss how to leverage your company’s current capabilities to build a formal, comprehensive channel program, and then to implement it on a global level. The session will refer throughout to specific examples, using a $200m software vendor as a case study to illustrate successful approaches and lessons learned.

In this session, learn how to:

• Determine which program elements your partners value most and what’s missing
• Design and articulate a competitive value proposition for your program
• Apportion your available budgets and resources for maximum impact with partners
• Align internal and external incentives and marketing activities for growth
• Create program messaging and marketing collateral to drive partner adoption and growth
• Build a channel program that can be implemented globally, allowing for local variations

Part Two – Peer to Peer Roundtable Discussion

Session attendees will break up into small groups for in-depth discussions focusing on benchmarking key metrics for lead management programs, joint sales and marketing campaigns ROI and governance structures.

Christopher Doggett
Director of Global Channel Sales
SOPHOS

In fiscal year 2008, Sophos channel partners increased their revenue growth by 43 percent. Doggett was recognized as ‘2009 Channel Chief by CRN’, for his contributions defending, promoting and executing effective channel partner programs and strategies.

3:00 Round Table Discussion: Motivational Programs and Incentives for Channel Partners

Vendors offer and flow a huge amount of rewards and incentive money to channel partners but a lot of this effort is either underutilized or goes to waste. However, both partner’s businesses and indirect sales people must be incentivized to sell products especially when competitive products are available. What are the right actions a vendor can take, and programs that can be offered to ensure that all of engagement activity and program expenditures translate into true share of mind, and more importantly, share of revenue generated by partners?

In this session, learn how to:

• Design your incentive programs and loyalty programs to match the market characteristics of your partners
• Establish rules for an incentive program (who can participate, products and services eligible, proof of sale, cancellation policies)
• Tie discounts, promotions and profit sharing agreements with partner performance

John Grady
Former Director of SMB Marketing and Channel Development
NETGEAR, INC.

3:45 Panel Discussion: Partner Led Demand Generation - Managing Short Term Revenue and Long Term Growth Goals in the Channel Space

The greatest advantage that resellers bring to vendor companies are the feet on the ground of their sales teams. However, the greatest challenge to vendor companies is how to effectively tap into demand for their products – identify, gain access to and engage a covered target market while meeting short term sales requirements from top management. This session will explore high-value, business-to-business prospecting as well as provide tips and techniques on how to empower your channel community to prospect higher and more strategically into accounts to keep your long term strategy on track.

Learn how to:

• Better leverage the time and talent of your inside, outside and channel sales resources through key enablement actions and two-way communications
• Maximize the impact of your partners’ enterprise selling methodology such as strategic selling, target account selling and solution selling
• Create a criteria check-list for lead pre-qualification of referred leads
• Provide a repeatable, measurable and predictable process for creating demand and building robust sales pipeline

Panelists include: