Infor today announced that it plans to increase the number of European partners in the Infor Partner Network (IPN) by 36 percent in the next six months.
The IPN is a global network designed to provide the tools and resources necessary to help partners grow a profitable and sustainable business around Infor products. Infor has continued to make significant investments in the IPN since its inception in 2011, building a program that has been consistently recognized as a leader in the industry.
Ninety-seven new channel partners joined the IPN in fiscal year 2015 making it the fourth consecutive year that Infor has cultivated around 100 new reseller partnerships worldwide. Infor continues to recruit channel partners and is currently looking for new partners focused on Customer Relationship Management (CRM) and Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems, particularly in the key vertical markets of fashion, food & beverage and industrial machinery.
"Resellers and Alliance Partners continue to play an integral role in Infor's CloudSuite™ and micro-vertical initiatives," said Peter Stanley, vice president, European Partner Sales, Infor. "Our approach to channel recruitment is focused on quality over quantity - we are not looking to take on thousands of partners and risk dilution. Instead we want a smaller number of partners who have considerable industry experience and are well aligned with our products and dedication to the needs of customers in micro-vertical industries."
Infor continues to attract new resellers and service providers by enhancing available resources and creating new initiatives exclusively for partners. Within the last year, Infor launched the Infor CloudSuite™ Academy, a training program designed to equip partners with the necessary skills and knowledge to help customers implement Infor applications in the cloud. The company also created Infor Launchpad to provide partners around the world with access to live, in-person training with Infor business development representatives (BDRs). Both of these programs were built to give resellers and service providers an individualized experience tailored for their industry and product focus, helping them to increase competitive differentiation and drive opportunities for their company.
In addition to recruiting new partners, Infor is dedicated to growing its existing partner base by helping them to extend their portfolio of Infor products, whilst helping them migrate their customers to the Cloud with Infor CloudSuite. Infor CloudSuite Academy classes are widely available to assist partners to help with these migrations.
Infor also encourages partners that wish to dive deeply into key industries to participate in Infor's Micro-vertical Specialization Program to deliver industry-specific applications built on Infor Mongoose.
"We have continued to meet and exceed the objectives that were established for the IPN when it was initially created, offering more options and methods to help partners grow their business with each passing year," said Jeff Abbott, senior vice president, Global Alliance and Channels, Infor. "Infor is focused on micro-vertical specialization and helping customers make the move to the cloud, and so is the IPN. Partners are an integral part of our long-term business strategy, and we've achieved this level of success by ensuring that the program's structure and resources tie directly into our larger company initiatives."