Selecting the Right Software Partner
Comparing Publisher and Reseller Implementations
Software is a constantly evolving market. Solutions evolve to meet the growing needs of their customer base, and partners evolve their services and processes to better serve their clients. As technology and the business landscape expand, these software evolutions happen more and more frequently. Modern buyers have extensive software offerings to choose from as well as hundreds of vendors for the same product. While this is an advantage to the customer, it can often make the evaluation and selection of the right partner a challenge. When deciding to purchase software and implementation services for a new Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software, you have two options to select from:
1. Software Publisher—also known as "vendor" or "direct." This is the developer of the software you are evaluating (e.g., Acumatica, Microsoft, NetSuite, Sage, and more).
2. Software Reseller—also known as a partner, or "Value Added Reseller (VAR)." These are independent professional services firms that specialize in selling, implementing, and supporting specific software.
In this guide, we will help you explore your options and determine if a publisher or partner implementation is right for your business.
