Constructive launches Partnerpedia Private Networks for partner communities 19 June, 2009 By Liam Lahey

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"One of the main benefits of Partnerpedia Private Networks is the ability to profile your company, invite your partners into your private network, publish, maintain, and target content based on the relationship that you have with partners," explained Geoff Mair, CTO and president, Constructive. "You have a lot of control over the branding and the content on the website and how the various partners in your program see it."

Partnerpedia Private Networks is an addition to the Partnerpedia Open Community, a free online service for vendors and partners as well as end-user companies, launched last year. With Private Networks, enterprises can maintain brand consistency across their partner community, control how content is managed and distributed to enable the channel, and allow its partners to collaborate with one another to accelerate business. Private Networks also offers additional features such as content filtering, reporting and metrics, and custom integration with business systems.

Mark Sochan, CEO, Constructive, said companies are trying to reach further down into the IT channel to tap into the SMB market but many are finding the traditional means of managing a partner channel difficult to scale.

"Our solutions at Constructive are all about leveraging collaborative and online technologies to allow companies to have a more effective relationship with their small to midsized partners," he said. "What's happening in the industry . . . the lines are blurring and there's no clear, linear relationship anymore; vendors have direct relationships with their customers and may also sell through partners . . . (Partnerpedia Private Networks) is a great place for any VAR to place a profile of their company, what their competencies are. They can also search and make known what they're looking for in terms of partners."

"Beyond being a social network for IT companies it's also a platform for them to run their own partner programs as well, for smaller ISVs," Mair said. "You can recruit and manage partners through Partnerpedia."

Partner-to-partner collaboration and social networking are already happening, although often driven at a grass roots level, said Michael Fauscette, group vice president of software business solutions for IDC.

"The difference is whether you as an enterprise are proactively engaging your partners in a collaborative fashion, if not, you run the risk of being left behind," he said. "Partnerpedia Private Networks is a great way for companies to maintain strong brand affiliation while gaining visibility to and maximizing the effectiveness of their partner community."

"With sales through indirect channels increasing at an exponential rate, it is more critical than ever to fully enable your entire network of channel and solution partners, and not only the top producers," added Sochan. "Constructive has been working with companies to deliver partner enablement solutions for over 10 years now. With our expertise and the power of social media, Partnerpedia Private Networks is designed to help companies maximize business through partners while reinforcing their company brand."

For additional information on Partnerpedia Open Community, and Partnerpedia Private Networks, visit www.partnerpedia.com.

For information on Constructive visit www.constructive-media.com.