The eZ partner program (a response to Seth Gottlieb's Commercial O/S business post)
In a blog post yesterday, CMS expert and Optarian Seth Gottlieb wonders about the eZ partner program:
> eZ systems has a points program where partners can get points for
> various contributions (answering questions on the forum, attending
> training sessions, submitting sites to the references section, fixing
> bugs, writing documentation, etc.). Points reduce the cost of services
> that eZ systems sells: training, support, monitoring, etc. It seems like
> a pretty good system but I don't know how it is working in practice.
> Perhaps someone from eZ can chime in here.
Well Seth, I led the project to develop the second edition of the partner program and helped design the points program (though it was the idea of our German Managing Director, Ralf Rutke) and have some thoughts on it. :)
We designed the program to accomplish a few key things:
1. To have a partner program that is based on merit and revenue, rather than just having a large partner program fee.
2. To be able to support partners of many different sizes in many different areas - we hoped to be able to support single person experts in Switzerland as well as big rigs like Siemens Business Services. We also hoped to be able to support partners in areas with weaker economies - the merit-focused aspects of the program really help in this area.
3. To explicitly identify the types of activities we hoped to encourage in our partner community.
4. To provide tangible rewards for partners actively work to help grow the eZ ecosystem.
The basics of the system are roughly this - every Euro of revenue that a partner brings us or every minute that they spend doing things that benefit the ecosystem earns one point in the partner program.
The money part is easy to measure. The time part is harder. We offer fixed amounts for certain activities - file a bug report, get 60 points; write a useful forum post, get 15 points; give a presentation about eZ, get 500 points and so on. (See a full list in the partner program)
The program has some warts and the points system takes time to administer - both on our part and on the partner's part. Thankfully, the benefits are quite concrete.
First, we are more easily able to give credit and reward where credit and reward are due. Our most engaged and active partners get much larger discounts that partners who participate less.
We see partners more actively working on projects that benefit the broad eZ ecosystem (including ourselves and the partner) and making sure to tell us and others about the work.
A great example of this is the work that Silver-level partner ATI has undertaken. They are doing two things - one of which is to provide the venue and logistics for hosting our first North American partner meeting, the second is that they are inviting other eZ partners out to one of their customer events. This last thing is truly exceptional, as it shows just how committed ATI is to serving their customers and to working as a part of the eZ ecosystem.
Phew. That is enough on this today. It is late on a Friday evening, I have a very well-entrenched head cold and a nice quiet evening beckons.
Have a good weekend all!
p.s. Stephe, thanks for pointing this out to me.
p.p.s. It is interesting to note that Seth, despite being a CMS wizard (or perhaps, because of), uses Blogger for his blog. No point in using a 10-ton pneumatic press when a tackhammer (that someone else cleans and polishes) will do.
Link Summary
- http://contenthere.bl...-source-business.html
- http://www.optaros.com
- http://www.blogger.com/profile/5445416
- http://ez.no
- http://ez.no/partner/...blish_partner_program
- http://ez.no/content/...tner_Program_2006.pdf
- http://ez.no/partner/..._technologies_inc_ati
- http://stephesblog.blogs.com
- http://www.blogger.com
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Posted on Friday, September 1st, 2006 at 23:05
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September 2nd, 2006 at 5:24
Thanks for posting this information. I think it is a great idea and addresses the question of how to get value from people that use open source software without paying subscription fees. Maybe this program, or a program like it could be offered to customers as well? I think that this is the intent of Jahia's odd licensing models which seem a little too forceful and arbitrary.
I am looking forward to attending training this month (and getting my points!)
–Seth
September 2nd, 2006 at 11:51
Hi Seth,
We have talked about how we can have a program like this with the broad community, but have not yet had the time or resources to try it out.
Your post was interesting - I will have to work up a more detailed response as time permits.
Cheers!
–zak
p.s. Have fun at training.
September 6th, 2006 at 10:10
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