Both bet on partners long before it was fashionable, and both did it by lowering the barrier rather than raising the bar. Zoho runs six separate programs across consulting, global SIs, distributors, VARs, affiliates and marketplace developers, with zero entry fees, three simple tiers and a deliberate push into tier 2 and tier 3 India through distribution. Freshworks went the other way and aimed its channel at the mid market that the enterprise vendors under serve, with referral, solution provider and strategic tracks, deal registration protection and margins up to around 40% on multi year commitments. The lesson for an Indian founder is that a partner engine is a decade long asset, not a quarter's campaign, and it compounds hardest in the segments giants ignore.
5 hand-picked resources, 5 India-specific, 5 link-checked. Pick how you want to dig in.
Why we picked it Freshworks' SVP of global channels on why the mid market is only reachable through partners, with a live example: one distribution partner selling through 6,000 plus resellers, growing over 40% year on year.
From SiliconANGLE by Kelly Knight 8 min read
Open siliconangle.com →Why we picked it A side by side of three real programs as Indian partners experience them, with tiers, certification requirements and margins, plus ground level views from partners in Delhi, Bengaluru and Pune.
From DQ Channels by Bharti Trehan 12 min read
Open dqchannels.com →Why we picked it An interview with Zoho's global partner program director covering 3,000 plus partners, zero entry fees, three tiers, and the deliberate push into tier 2 and tier 3 India through distribution.
From DQ Channels by Bharti Trehan 10 min read
Open dqchannels.com →Why we picked it The live version of an Indian origin channel at scale: 500 plus channel partners in 80 plus countries, 400 plus technology integrations, and four partner tracks stated plainly.
From Freshworks 5 min read
Open freshworks.com →Why we picked it Six distinct programs on one page (consulting, GSI, distributor, VAR, affiliate, marketplace) is the fastest way to see how a mature partner portfolio is segmented rather than lumped together.
From Zoho 6 min read
Open zoho.com →How partnerships and alliances reads from a different seat.
The same ground, over in Scale, fund & exit, our D2C track.
