Partner program

I’m not sure if MODx already has some kind of partner program; I tried to do a search, but didn’t come up with anything.

I was just reviewing http://www.Magentocommerce.com (an opensource ecommerce platform) and noticed they have a partner program. So, I’m reviewing it, and I started thinking about how awesome it would be to be an official MODx Partner.

I’m impressed with all the features/benefits they plan to offer their partners:

-Partner portal
-Partner newsletter
-Affliate program for commercial support
-Certification/training
-Partner Directory
-Sales orientation training
-Partner showcase
-Partner Success Stories
...to name a few

Even if we were to implement a few of these benefits, it would be a great way to further market MODx while providing revenue to the project.
Check out the program details and let me know what you think. http://www.magentocommerce.com/images/uploads/Magento_Partner_Program.pdf

Link to their partner blog. http://www.magentocommerce.com/partners/blogYou can see the type of logo’s they will be allowing their partners to display on their respective websites.

Indeed very smart partner program Debbie, and good idea to start this thread we need to think deep about this and it’s one of the key aspects of MODx’s success on the corporate market... Anyway great timing, was about to leave for a "no internet access" week-end... I am downloading the PDF, will read it and give you some feedback.

I’ll do some researching when I get back, see what Joomla, Drupal and al. have in store on this front.

I am sure Jay will have some very interresting insight about this
An interresting debate, again !

One thing we’ll need to do is plan things a bit and get down to start working one those ideas that have been flowing on the marketing board lately...

I’ll have to look at this a bit. I will look at the program information but it certainly brings up a valid point that we should consider building revenues and increasing financial donations to the project. I’ll take a look and return some feedback later this weekend. I am tearing my office apart today for a spring clean-out.

Cheers,

Jay

Talk about timing ...

This exact idea has been percolating for a few days spurred by Magento. They’ve done a great job putting their site together. I don’t think they’re close to having everything ready to go, but certainly a model to consider from a business perspective standpoint. I don’t know if they’re getting too fine-grained in their offering levels, though. I’d like to personally see no more than three offerings, but I’ve no real experience here.

From a revenue perspective, the thing I found most interesting was their requirements at the bottom of the chart here:

http://www.magentocommerce.com/partners/details

The subscription sales requirements for the different levels are interesting too, with 5-packs going for $1000 or $1500 depending on turnaround time.

Quote from: rthrash at Mar 22, 2008, 10:51 AM

This exact idea has been percolating for a few days spurred by Magento. They’ve done a great job putting their site together. I don’t think they’re close to having everything ready to go, but certainly a model to consider from a business perspective standpoint. I don’t know if they’re getting too fine-grained in their offering levels, though. I’d like to personally see no more than three offerings, but I’ve no real experience here.

I have read this, and came to the same conclusion : great model but (at least for now) probably to detailed (thus potentially confusing...). It’s not the number of levels which struck me but rather the numbers of items contained in their offering. There is way too much things in there, or at least it should be regrouped a bit more clearly.

If we are to inspire from their partner program we should do this in progressive steps.
Some things (like certification) will be coherent in the long run, but IMHO are way ahead if you consider our current positionning on the market.

Among the things I see in step 1 :

• the partner logo : I like the concept. I have been talking about this for a while now, but I also like the idea (not in their offering) of having the same kind of logo for certified professionnals (I know this implies some work to build a certification process but in the long run I believe in the value of this especially for the corporate target).
• Listing in Partner directory : Easy to implement, would make MODx services much more readable to would-be clients
• Advanced Access to Beta and Release Candidate Software : It’s been discussed before as a selling point for paid support but I have mixed feelings about this. While it could be a great incentive, it all depends on how many developpers/coders and professionnals working with MODx subscribe to it. If the number is too small, then the early access would loose all interrest for us.
• Partner Webinars : This is something we could start fast and without too much work either. It would help build up towards the corporate target.
• Sales Orientation Training : another item we could deploy quite fast, I know I have had a lot of questions from freelance and webagencies about "how to sell MODx". It also brings back to the table the idea of some kind of "Sales kit".
• Step-by-Step Partner Onboarding : I definitely vote for it. Building a such a package is doable without putting to much resources it would certainly help the undecisive company to commit.

This could also be a way to jumpstart the commercial support, which has been in soft launch for a while now.

All this also raises the question : CollabPad will definitely be the business structure behind this and if a variety of people work on it, how do we set this up ?

I am also thinking wider scope here, being French I most definitely am interrested in making this program available to french businesses, web agencies, freelance... etc.

Sorry to bump this, but do we put this on hold ?
I am well aware there’s a lot going on right now and this is long term stuff but if you have input to provide, shoot !

Quote from: davidm at Mar 24, 2008, 11:38 AM

Among the things I see in step 1 :

[*]the partner logo : I like the concept. I have been talking about this for a while now, but I also like the idea (not in their offering) of having the same kind of logo for certified professionnals (I know this implies some work to build a certification process but in the long run I believe in the value of this especially for the corporate target).

Definitely. I really would love to find someone with training experience that could pull this off or at least shepherd us through this process. I have zero experience here.

[*]Listing in Partner directory : Easy to implement, would make MODx services much more readable to would-be clients

An easy given. Probably would want to be able to search by geography, too.

[*]Advanced Access to Beta and Release Candidate Software : It’s been discussed before as a selling point for paid support but I have mixed feelings about this. While it could be a great incentive, it all depends on how many developpers/coders and professionnals working with MODx subscribe to it. If the number is too small, then the early access would loose all interrest for us.

I personally think this has value. My intention would be to make some of the more interesting code-bits available to the partner program that would simply be a nightmare to support in the broader community as they require a much higher level of knowledge and expertise.

[*]Partner Webinars : This is something we could start fast and without too much work either. It would help build up towards the corporate target.

Have any additional information or examples elsewhere on this topic?

[*]Sales Orientation Training : another item we could deploy quite fast, I know I have had a lot of questions from freelance and webagencies about "how to sell MODx". It also brings back to the table the idea of some kind of "Sales kit".

This is a great idea and should be a valuable tool. Perhaps we could even include an estimate generating spreadsheet to assist in proposals.

[*]Step-by-Step Partner Onboarding : I definitely vote for it. Building a such a package is doable without putting to much resources it would certainly help the undecisive company to commit.

I don’t understand "onboarding" ... can you explain some more please?

This could also be a way to jumpstart the commercial support, which has been in soft launch for a while now.

Interesting. I think after seeing how the commercial support is being used that we might want to tweak the parameters and price points a bit, in addition to offering template porting, installation, upgrade and migration services.

All this also raises the question : CollabPad will definitely be the business structure behind this and if a variety of people work on it, how do we set this up ?

I am also thinking wider scope here, being French I most definitely am interrested in making this program available to french businesses, web agencies, freelance... etc.

That’s a great question and I don’t have the faintest of idea right now ... still percolating but thankful for the friendly and warranted bump.

Quote from: rthrash at Mar 27, 2008, 08:36 AM

Definitely. I really would love to find someone with training experience that could pull this off or at least shepherd us through this process. I have zero experience here.

I think there are two aspects to this :

• Training : I am no expert but did some training back when I was a quality consultant, I guess it’s a matter of having solid programs, good preparation and of course the hardest part : pedagogy. There are a bunch of people with good MODx expertise now, I have no doubt among them you’ll find good training skills.
• Certification : This is a bit harder to set up as it implies an authority delivering certificates (since it means a legal entity, CollabPad seems the natural candidate) and a list of verifiable items people have to pass to get it.

No doubt the first aspect will come to life first.

As MODx becomes more popular, request for MODx training will emerge. It has already begun on the french side, some ask if training is available.
I guess anyone can offer a MODx training as a service. I already train some clients as users, as many sure do (quick 1 hour briefs works well, though most of the time it’s not needed).

I wouldn’t feel comfortable training devs as it’s not my skillset but I sure could build a MODx 101 program, of a Webdesigner program to explain MODx templating, an admin program to train admins to the manager... etc.

Quote from: rthrash

[*]Listing in Partner directory : Easy to implement, would make MODx services much more readable to would-be clients

An easy given. Probably would want to be able to search by geography, too.

Sure, good idea let’s bundle this with a GoogleMap

Quote from: rthrash

[*]Advanced Access to Beta and Release Candidate Software :

I personally think this has value. My intention would be to make some of the more interesting code-bits available to the partner program that would simply be a nightmare to support in the broader community as they require a much higher level of knowledge and expertise.

Good point, I didn’t mean it didn’t have value, just that the partner skills will be the key factor in making those beta’s feedback more or less valuable...

Quote from: rthrash

[*]Partner Webinars : This is something we could start fast and without too much work either. It would help build up towards the corporate target.

Have any additional information or examples elsewhere on this topic?

No, I don’t have this handy and I don’t have much experience but I sure will look this up and try to make a summary to offer some additionnal insight.


Quote from: rthrash

[*]Step-by-Step Partner Onboarding : I definitely vote for it. Building a such a package is doable without putting to much resources it would certainly help the undecisive company to commit.

I don’t understand "onboarding" ... can you explain some more please?

Well, it’s the term they (Varien / Magento) use for it.
My understanding is that it’s kind of an "orientation package" for newcomers.

Check their description for it :

The Partner receives a welcome pack as well as assistance with sign-up, orientation, and explanation of partners’ benefits and requirements.

Quote from: rthrash

This could also be a way to jumpstart the commercial support, which has been in soft launch for a while now.

Interesting. I think after seeing how the commercial support is being used that we might want to tweak the parameters and price points a bit, in addition to offering template porting, installation, upgrade and migration services.

Well, I really feel like commercial support has great potential.

It’s not easy to set the right price, but also it would be great to have some examples / case study of how tickets are handled, what kind of tickets do you handle, how fast this is done... etc.

I know this requires time, but it could sure help materialize what the whole package is about.

Also, I do think that in the future, a greater separation between commercial support and community support should be defined. Frankly, it’s a bit fuzzy as it is, maybe because the forums have so much content

I really think at some point the community and commercial aspects should appear directly on the modxcms.com frontpage... maybe that’s a bit radical but I think it would make things more readable.

Quote from: rthrash

All this also raises the question : CollabPad will definitely be the business structure behind this and if a variety of people work on it, how do we set this up ? I am also thinking wider scope here, being French I most definitely am interrested in making this program available to french businesses, web agencies, freelance... etc.

That’s a great question and I don’t have the faintest of idea right now ... still percolating but thankful for the friendly and warranted bump.

Well, I was expecting some feedback, and I am especially eager to get Jay’s sharp eye on this.

I think at some point (when MODx really starts hitting the corporate market) it will be important to associate MODx with CollabPad (CollabPad website’s already does this the other way around, associating CollabPad with MODx / xPDO). Of course, it has to be carefully done so that the community doesn’t see that in a bad eye (I remember some of the reactions to the announcement regarding commercial support).

I don’t know what is the strategy here, but I think it can have value to have a commercial structure behind an opensource product.
Remember the thread I had launched a while back : Professionnal Open Source Model : insight about MODx future business model ?

Never raised anything but I think there are valuable ideas in here...

Hey all, I’ll get my sharp eye on things soon. Everyone here at my house has some sort of virus and I have been in bed for days. Feeling a little better today but not thinking 100% yet.