In part 1 of this blog series, we talked about the costly problem medium and large ISVs have with managing their indirect channel. While this is a major pain point for them, it’s just one piece of a larger challenge they’re facing.
Many ISVs run their direct and indirect channel systems separately. Not only are they sinking resources into expensive homegrown technology and integrations with their indirect channel partners, they’re also duplicating many of their tasks for both channels. What ISVs need is a solution to unite these channels.
The newly released CloudBlue platform solves this challenge. As the world’s first supply automation platform, CloudBlue helps ISVs link and centralize their direct and indirect channels while simplifying the management of these channels.
What exactly does this mean for ISVs? They can eliminate the high cost of operating their homegrown solutions. Using RESTful APIs, CloudBlue lets ISVs easily integrate with any of their partners’ systems. This allows ISVs to forgo the slow, expensive process of building and maintaining multiple EDI integrations with each of their partners.
Besides saving money, ISVs will also save time. CloudBlue is a commerce-agnostic platform that can plug into any commerce system an ISV uses for its direct channel through an API integration. And CloudBlue can be configured to automate their ordering, fulfillment and subscription management processes—cutting down the time they spend on these tasks.
Cutting costs and saving time will allow ISVs to divert resources back into their core business. It enables them to grow their indirect channel without the burden of building and maintaining custom integrations. And with access to the existing CloudBlue ecosystem of more than 200 service providers who work with more than 2 billion end customers, ISVs can quickly and easily expand their reach in markets around the world.
Our new platform presents an exciting opportunity for ISVs to build and grow their own marketplaces. Now, they’ll be able to quickly and easily onboard new products—either their own or those of their vendor partners—and distribute them through their direct and indirect channels from a single platform. In addition, ISVs will be able to get to market faster and create valuable bundles for end customers.
But CloudBlue goes beyond helping ISVs streamline direct and indirect channel operations. It can also provide a consistent buying experience for their partners and potential end customers by helping ISVs create consistent messaging for their products. Using the Go-to-Market Automator, vendors can create standardized sales and marketing content for all their channel partners, who then can access it from one portal. As a result, partners and end customers will get the latest and most accurate product information to make the best purchasing decisions.
Designed to help ISVs operate more efficiently, our CloudBlue technology makes it possible for ISVs to detangle how they have wired their direct and indirect channel motions, and remove the burden that has weighed them down and prevented them from growing. By improving the way ISVs do business, we hope to give them a greater capacity to deliver innovative products and drive the digital economy forward.
To learn more, register to attend the free CloudBlue webinar on December 9, 2019. You’ll see a demo of the CloudBlue platform and have the opportunity to ask questions of our CloudBlue experts.
