How do I work with a system integrator without losing the customer relationship?
Write it down before the first deal: who holds the software contract, who does implementation, who the customer calls when something breaks, and who owns the renewal. The usual arrangement is that the SI carries early stage sales and adoption while you keep the product contract, which works fine as long as you keep a direct line to the customer's product owner. Insist on joint reviews with the customer present so the SI is not the only voice in the room, and make sure your support team can see real usage. SIs are paid for services, so they have a structural interest in keeping things complex. That is not malice, it is their business model, and you should design around it.
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5 resources, 2 India-specific, 5 link-checked.
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Specifically about SIs rather than partners in general, including the split where the SI carries early stage sales and adoption while the ISV keeps the product contract.
An Indian SaaS operator walking through revenue partners versus tech partners, how a startup recruits its first ones, and the common mistakes, framed for founders selling out of India.
Maps the Indian Azure ecosystem by name: distributors like Redington and Ingram Micro, cloud native firms like Minfy and Quantiphi, ISVs like Freshworks, Zoho and Icertis, with the co-sell paths for each.
Three entry levels: Action Pack (discounted M365/D365 plus $700 Azure credits), Solutions Partner designations across six areas, then Azure Expert MSP.
Partner Success Core costs $895 a year for roughly $62K in software and cloud credits; Expanded is $3,995 for about $391K plus unlimited deployment hours.
Azure Accelerate co-sell support kicks in on opportunities above $5K ACR.
India has three local Azure regions (Mumbai, Pune, Chennai), which is what makes data-residency deals possible.
The clearest single explanation of the five partner types and what each is worth, including real margin bands (20 to 30% for VARs, 5 to 10% for referral) and how to compensate your own AEs on partner deals.
The most cited channel analyst working through the SI motion specifically, including who owns the customer relationship and how the vendor stays present in the account after the integrator lands it.
