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Aug
10
Posted by:
Doug Howell
8/10/2009 11:09 AM
Over the last few weeks I have been working to create and launch the DotNetNuke Fusion Partner Program. The primary mission of this program is to support the commercial efforts of organizations in the DotNetNuke ecosystem that are interested in taking the Professional Edition to market.
As I was building the program, I solicited feedback from a wide range of potential partners in North America and Europe. In a perfect world, I would have spoken to each of you individually to get a feel for your history in the DotNetNuke project, and your input on what the perfect partner program should look like. Unfortunately, it is not a perfect world. I spoke to about 30 of you. Not a bad sample size… What I discovered were a few universal threads the partner program should have:
1. A zero/low barrier to entry
2. A global view, not just North America
3. The same spirit of openness and “Abundance Mentality” that has existed in the DotNetNuke Community for years
4. A method to highlight and showcase partners that have invested heavily in building and maintaining strong skills around DotNetNuke and the Microsoft stack
5. A way to share business opportunities with partners that DotNetNuke Corp. uncovers as the world’s largest open source project on the Microsoft stack
If you look at the partner overview page, I incorporated the above requirements into Version 1.0 of the partner program. These program features are designed to:
1. Increase your profitability
2. Grow your business
3. Help you acquire new customers
4. Expand your reach
5. Set your organization apart
This is huge opportunity!!
Any organization can join the program. It is easy and inexpensive. Partners that want to invest more significantly in the program will receive commensurate benefits from the program.
Phase 1 is now live and operational. We can capture your information and seamlessly input your data into our CRM system, process your application paperwork, and give you access to the partner portal. Phase 2 will go live in a week or so. Phase 2 will include a partner showcase, a partner finder for our mutual prospects/customers, an opportunity registration for partners, and an opportunity referral page. The development of Phase 3 is running in parallel to Phase 2. Phase 3 is an automated methodology for partners to order licenses for customers, and an automated provisioning process to distribute licenses to customers.
The best thing is we are eating our own dog food. The whole infrastructure is built on DotNetNuke. I was amazed how easy everything was to build...of course I was not doing any of the work.
Why name the program “Fusion”? Over the years there have been multiple ways organizations could “partner” with DotNetNuke. I wanted to make sure there was a clear demarcation of this program and a clear understanding of our mission. The Fusion program’s mission is to facilitate the success of any organization that wants to empower their customers with the best web content management and application development framework for Microsoft .NET. “Fusion” is the obvious play on the “Nuke” in DotNetNuke but, more importantly, it celebrates the melding of Microsoft and open source. DotNetNuke is that intersection.
I can’t do this solo, nor do I want to. This is our program. Your input is required for our collective success. Many of you have probably been in some good partner programs and some not so good. Me too! For a few years I worked at a technology reseller and was exposed to some really awesome vendor programs and some really bad ones. The great ones were simple, straightforward, and ethics based. The bad ones were laden with stupid rules, usually designed to make the vendor a lot of money, and didn't have any concern for the well being of the partners. You don’t need to read CRN very long to see how well the vendors in the second group fare.
DotNetNuke is an awesome occurrence. It is an awesome place to work, and my goal is to make us an awesome company to partner with.
I look forward to working with all of you over the coming months and years.
Cheers,
Doug
10 comment(s) so far...
Re: The Birth Of The DotNetNuke Fusion Partner Program
For me it looks like this program is made to make revenu for the vendor in mind.
I hope you will succes with the program but if this was the result of your 30 calls I am suprised.
By Jan Olsmar on
8/10/2009 1:33 PM
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Re: The Birth Of The DotNetNuke Fusion Partner Program
I agree with Jan.
Looks like this program was setup just to make DNN Corp money, not developers, designers or hosting companies.
5k PER YEAR for a gold membership to earn 30% commission on DNN Pro & get listed in a directory..lol
If I were you guys I would be offering a 30% commission to ANYONE that can sell YOUR product for YOU. The more you can sell your product the greater your success will be.
Having duel branded marketing material is a great idea but again this should just be given to anyone who wants to market YOUR product for YOU.
If you GIVE people the tools they need & small financial rewards for selling YOUR product for YOU, I am sure that you will have greater success selling YOUR product.
By Adam Kirkbride on
8/10/2009 2:31 PM
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Re: The Birth Of The DotNetNuke Fusion Partner Program
Hi Doug,
Is there a partner program in place yet similar to the Microsoft Partner Program where I can pay something like $1500 and get access to the Professional Edition for internal testing, development and demonstration purposes?
By Don Worthley on
8/11/2009 9:32 AM
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Re: The Birth Of The DotNetNuke Fusion Partner Program
Microsoft actually gives you a copy of just about all their software (Microsoft Partners get thousands of dollars worth of free software & free tech support -- VS -- DNN Partners have to pay 5k per year to make DNN Corp richer & basically get nothing in return..lol) Microsoft's action pack is now a lot cheaper than it used to be. As of June 1 2009:-Microsoft Action Pack download-only version costs $299 plus tax per year This is what you get in for your $299 per year (SEE: partner.microsoft.com/US/40013779)
By Adam Kirkbride on
8/13/2009 8:57 AM
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Re: The Birth Of The DotNetNuke Fusion Partner Program
The requirements page is empty. I assume that this would be the place where pricing infomation is listed, if this would be a perfect world. It's not, I know. Yet I'd like to know the conditions of becoming a partner...
By Philipp Becker on
8/12/2009 12:00 PM
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Re: The Birth Of The DotNetNuke Fusion Partner Program
@ Don Worthley
>>Is there a partner program in place yet similar to the Microsoft Partner Program where I can pay something like $1500 and get access to the Professional Edition for internal testing, development and demonstration purposes?
One of the benefits of joining the Fusion Program (at any of the 3 levels) is access to a Not For Resale version of Professional Edition. It is a fully functional version for partners to use for testing and customer demos. This version is not quite ready to be released, but should be available shortly. This benefit is not listed on the Fusion Program benefits page for this reason. Once it is available, I will update the benefits page, and distribute the NFR version to Fusion Partners.
Thanks for your question Don
By Doug.Howell on
8/12/2009 12:10 PM
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Re: The Birth Of The DotNetNuke Fusion Partner Program
@Philipp Becker
>>The requirements page is empty. I assume that this would be the place where pricing infomation is listed, if this would be a perfect world. It's not, I know. Yet I'd like to know the conditions of becoming a partner...
The Requirements page is populated, and is working. I might be stating the obvious, but it might be a caching issue.
If anyone else has this similar issue, please let me know at partners@dnncorp.com
Thank you for your comment Philipp
By Doug.Howell on
8/12/2009 12:08 PM
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Re: The Birth Of The DotNetNuke Fusion Partner Program
$5000 PER YEAR is inexpensive in what demented mind? Someone who just got $7M in investment capital maybe. On top of certification costs, training salespeople you'd have to sell hundreds of copies a year to make that up. Just not reasonable or practical for 99.999% of your potential partners.
By oscubed on
8/12/2009 5:12 PM
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Re: The Birth Of The DotNetNuke Fusion Partner Program
The prices seem high and the percentage seem to low. The registered should be free, similar to MS register partner program and should have at least 20%-30%.
I am a reseller for WebHost4Life and paid $399 dollars for it and for that got 40% for all sales and have gotten that up to 50 % just by the number of total referral I have. Then on top of that I get 35% each time a person renews with WebHost4Life.
The pricing really has put a limit on the number of businesses that will be able to benefit from this. Only the big DNN consultants will be able to afford this and not allow the small to mid-size companies to really benefit from this. Plus the facts that it is an annual fee really hurts.
At least raise the percentage some and make the Registered option free, the the annual fee for the other 2 levels might be justified.
By Shawn Mehaffie on
8/13/2009 11:28 AM
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Re: The Birth Of The DotNetNuke Fusion Partner Program
@oscubed
>>$5000 PER YEAR is inexpensive in what demented mind? Someone who just got $7M in investment capital maybe. On top of certification costs, training salespeople you'd have to sell hundreds of copies a year to make that up. Just not reasonable or practical for 99.999% of your potential partners
The beauty is that there are 3 levels of partnership! For those that join at the Registered Level, they can recoop their expenditure by selling one PE license a year. Partners that believe they can sell slightly over 8 PE licenses a year are more likely to weight the benefits of the Gold level.
The Fusion Program is designed to be ultra-inclusive and have broad appeal to everyone, regardless of size or focus.
By Doug.Howell on
8/13/2009 11:36 AM
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