The channel management SaaS has been largely ignored by large companies, but it is about to change. I believe that the major software providers will start recognizing and catering more to their customers who are looking for lower-cost options with fewer services.

Channel Management SaaS Always Follow the Money

The most common mistake made by start-up CEOs is to believe that channel management SaaS partners are there to help your business. In reality, they exist solely for their own benefit, and the formula of how much money a partner can make boils down to one thing: how well do you treat them?

When considering the money made in a channel management SaaS, it is important to also consider what value that company brings. Click To Tweet

For example, if you are only making $10 million but your customers have high lifetime values then this may be better than an enterprise software provider who makes $200 million with low customer retention rates.

When SaaS applications can be used on one’s own, they do not need to go through the sales process and then engage in a long-term relationship with an outside provider. As such, channel management SaaS is becoming less valuable because it cannot add much value when customers don’t want them.

Unfinished Business is the Business of Channels

The work required to realize the benefit of your product is the same whether you do it, your customer does it, or a channel management SaaS partner does. SaaS partners are invaluable because they can take on tasks that will make adoption easier and quicker for both parties involved in order to get more people using their products.

SaaS companies can be a difficult market to break into, especially for the sales team. This is because they have a high cost of service and limited availability.

In order for a cloud channel management SaaS strategy to be successful, it is crucial that the success of your partners and customers are in sync. Your partner’s ability to make money needs to match or exceed what they contribute to the total cost of service (TCS). Customers need their experience with your product/service and the pricing structure should always outweigh TCS costs.

Developing in the Cloud: The Emerging PaaS Channel Opportunity

The channel management SaaS of enterprise software has not been able to do much so far because they were only set up for the customer and did not know what their needs would be. But I think that soon, we will see more specialization in these markets as things become more specific.

The same attributes that are present in the cloud space also exist with platforms as a service. Whether it is creating, deploying, managing new applications on Amazon AWS, or extending existing SaaS apps using Web services APIs, there are many opportunities for pure development to grow at an enterprise level.

While the SaaS industry has struggled to generate interest from potential partners, IaaS providers are likely to find themselves dependent on new cloud channel management SaaS that focuses solely on application development and deployment. These channel management SaaS will spark a proliferation of home-grown tools which can be taken to market by these distributors.

When it comes to enterprise software, channel management SaaS partners are most successful when they shift their focus from SaaS sales to PaaS. Click To Tweet

If you’re not yet on board with this idea, then now is the time because there’s a risk that your competition will beat you in establishing relationships. That is it for the channel management SaaS.