Infor Eases Sales Restrictions For Channel Partners

The move, which raises the restriction from its current limit of customers with annual sales of $100 million, will create a wave of new opportunities for Infor's channel partners, said Jeff Abbott, vice president of global alliances and channels, in an interview.

"That's really a vote of confidence for the growth of our channel community," said Abbott, who called the decision "a watershed moment for our channel program."

[Related: Infor Puts Partner Recruitment Into High Gear ]

The new policy is effective immediately.

Until now Infor's partners have been limited to selling Infor software to customers with annual sales of $100 million and below. Infor has granted channel partners exclusive rights to sell those customers.

Under the new plan partners can now sell to customers with annual sales up to $500 million. Solution providers will still have exclusivity in the under-$100 million market, but sales prospects with annual sales between $100 million and $500 million are open to both partners and Infor's direct sales, according to Abbott. Contracts will go to whoever registers a deal first, he said.

The decision to raise the selling limits came after Infor CEO Charles Phillips held a series of roundtable discussions with channel partners in recent months, according to Abbott, and partners said they wanted to be able to sell to a broader range of customers.

Abbott is informing partners of the policy change this week.

Infor overhauled its partner program last year, creating the Infor Partner Network, and the company has been aggressively recruiting new partners since then.

Infor now has more than 450 partners signed to its global agreements, Abbott said, including 140 partners recruited in the last year. The long-term goal is to recruit as many as 1,000 to 1,100 partners worldwide.

The company has recorded 28 percent year-over-year growth in channel sales, which now account for 25 percent of the company's overall license sales – a number Abbott would like to see grow to 30 or even 35 percent.

Abbott also said the average number of products sold by channel partners has doubled in the last year as solution providers sell a broader range of Infor products.

PUBLISHED AUG. 8, 2012