Nowadays, between the Internet, automated phone systems, and the proliferation of call centers, almost every company has been forced to extend their reach through strategic partnerships. Charles Chu, Director of Business Development at Cambridge, Mass.-based ChannelWave, agrees that PRM will be to business in the future what CRM is now. Indirect business is the reality of how business is now being driven, Chu said. It has become one of the core processes of driving revenue to the end customer, he said. Sham Sao, Vice President of Marketing at Austin, Tex.-based PartnerWare, said the primary economic driver of PRM is the need to achieve maximum market coverage and penetration in minimum time.
Partners can increase coverage while reducing the cost of coverage.
However, to most effectively work with partners, companies need tools to manage those relationships. The same forces that are driving the growth of e-business across other business processes are driving the automation of partner relationship management e.g., greater efficiency, greater effectiveness, he said. Kevin McKelvey, ChannelWave s Senior Alliance Manager, explained that since the beginning of buying and selling, vendors have recruited vast networks of partners. There are layers of complexity with their partner channels. In addition, there are layers of complexity within those relationships, he said.