SAP Brings New Tiers, Engagement Models to PartnerEdge Program

SAP (SAP) recently unveiled a major retooling of its nearly decade-old PartnerEdge Program, which includes new engagement models and a revised set of partner tiers to make doing business with the company easier.

SAP said the new format is “the most significant evolution of the program in its 10-year history,” and includes several new features, most notably a singular partner engagement model. Resellers can now choose between four engagement types broken down into Build, Sell, Service and Run categories, depending on their market activity.

The program will also allow partners to add engagement types without any major financial investment, according to the company. All of a partner’s activity across the four engagement models will be used to fuel reseller benefits.

A new three-tiered framework consisting of Silver, Gold and Platinum designations has replaced the existing Bronze, Silver and Gold model, with Platinum available by invitation only. The Silver and Gold levels are generally available to partners worldwide.

Resellers interested in joining the PartnerEdge program can utilize the new Open Ecosystem specialized layer, enabling prospective partners to operate under a “PartnerEdge-lite” model without any financial commitment.

Open Ecosystem specialized adds onto last year’s introduction of Open Ecosystem basic, which provided potential partners with limited access to the company’s partner portal, according to the announcement.

The trial program is open to those looking to work with SAP for the first time as well as existing partners who want to expand their businesses with the company. All enablement and training will carry over to the full program if a partner decides to commit to PartnerEdge.

Finally, SAP introduced eContracts, a new paperless method to help resellers reduce their physical footprint and speed the processing of customer contracts.

The change in SAP’s PartnerEdge program reflects the company’s continuing efforts to simplify the resale process for partners, with SAP’s Rodolpho Cardenuto recently stating that “complexity is the enemy” of business efficiency during the SAP Global Partner Summit in Orlando.