NetSuite will be offering its wholly-owned company Open Air to further its channel partnering model with an on-demand professional service.
The Open Air software automates project management and resource management.Morris Panner, CEO of OpenAir, said the NetSuite/Open Air combination enables the company to be a bigger entity with more resources.
The new program offers the following benefits:
NetSuite solution providers will earn the same margins on OpenAir new customer transactions and upsells as earned when selling NetSuite. NetSuite channel chief Craig West said margins for Open Air are between 30 to 50 per cent, adding it competes with on-premise solutions.
NetSuite solutions providers will also earn standard recurring margin on OpenAir customer renewals for accounts originated, similar to NetSuite renewals. OpenAir product sales will count towards NetSuite Star Program tier achievement levels for earning higher margins in future years. NetSuite and OpenAir also announced the first OpenAir advanced product training class for NetSuite partners, to be held later this year.
“We have a sense that the market will want this and it gives channel partners a real opportunity. They can purchase Open Air and get a clear set of packages for the market,” said West.
The services economy is an important part of the channel’s business, Panner said. “The services economy is the economy of the future. If you go back a generation with SAP, they had the insight to solve a tough problem and built a whole company around it. Now there is a knowledge-based economy, but there is no ERP solution for that. Open Air has this piece,” he said.
West said that in the last few years channel partners have been able to build on the NetSuite platform. With Open Air, it further expands on that with human resources, staffing, real estate opportunities with a service component.
“This further supports them in those accounting solutions and boosts a channel partner’s trusted advisor status,” West said.
Solution providers today do not want to be software resellers only, West added. “They like to (live the) drink your own champagne mentality and preach what they can do for business.”
