Chelford SAP Solutions, part of the Solarsoft group of companies and one of the top SAP value added resellers in the UK, has launched a joint initiative with SAP - the Extended Business Partner Programme - creating a complementary network of UK-based SAP value added resellers. Both current and new customers of any one of the members of the network will be able to take advantage of all the services and products provided by the partners, and receive a broader SAP offering.
Chelford has selected its partners because of their excellent SAP track records and reputations as dependable SAP resellers and implementers, and the complementary nature of their products and services. Justin Brading, Managing Director of Chelford SAP Solutions, comments, "This programme is designed to provide customers with the best possible access to all the functionality, products and services of SAP, within an easily managed and professionally delivered framework, unique to the UK market. We have therefore chosen partners who are particularly successful within their chosen field of SAP software and who have formidable track records in successful implementations. As a result, customers who come either to Chelford or any one of our partners can now be offered a broader and more cost-effective SAP solution from a selection of providers with guaranteed track records, rather than being offered only a point solution for a particular business function, while the entire scheme is project managed and overseen by Chelford."
Brading continues, "Aside from the cost, efficiency and convenience advantages for the customers, there are also significant benefits for us, SAP and our partners. We and our partners are now able to take advantage of increased mutual access to each others' customer bases, and SAP will then benefit from increased licence sales opportunities. We see this initiative as benefiting the market in all four directions - ourselves, our partners, our customers and SAP itself."
Mark Stringer, Managing Director of Maven Solutions, a business intelligence solution provider and one of the first members of the Extended Business Partner Programme, comments, "The new programme presents an excellent opportunity to us. We will be able to provide extra services within Chelford's client base and through being able to offer a combined solution with Chelford and the other partners, our proposition is strengthened when going out to the market."
Paul Viney, Managing Director of iQlink, a mobile SAP solutions provider and early member of the programme, comments, "Customers of this programme will benefit from a tightly integrated set of products and services from complementary SAP resellers, who all have vested interests in the success of the overall implementation. From our perspective, we are able to cross and up sell our product set to the customer bases of other partners and Chelford themselves, while also benefiting from being included in a network of software providers who can offer extensive and wide-reaching SAP-based business solutions."
Howard Frear, Director of Sales at EasySoftware, an SAP document management and data archiving software supplier and early programme member, comments, "This programme serves to formalise a small community of SAP suppliers providing focused services within the UK. Having Chelford as the co-ordinator within this scheme, given its strength in the market, allows the partners to benefit from an extensive customer base into which we can cross sell, and also gives us a far greater selling power when we have the combined experience and resource of the entire network behind us."
Robert Humphreys, Director of Contemporary Software, comments on a recent seminar hosted by Chelford, "Chelford's SAP partner event provided a comprehensive overview of the SAP offering and an opportunity for other partners to meet and discuss where they see the benefits of All-in-One 'FastStart'. The programme fits well within the mid-market space helping those organisations not necessarily looking for an Enterprise solution today but wanting to invest in a solution that will meet their immediate requirements. Customers are secure in the knowledge that they are investing in a company which is there for the long term and has a solution which will grow with them."
Stephen Read, SAP UK SME Director, comments "The EBP Programme offers a significant opportunity for growth in the SME market, as has already been proven across Europe. The EBP Programme enables new partnering organisations with specific skills and experience to work for SAP and therefore enjoy the benefits of being part of the SAP Ecosystem. The EBP Members will be working with our established, proven and successful channel partners such as Chelford SAP Solutions, who can deliver low risk and high quality solutions to the UK market place. We strongly believe this combination of SAP products, Chelford's rich experience of delivering enterprise solutions and niche skills from the new EBP partners, is a winning initiative, as demonstrated elsewhere."