Ralf Meyer: Partnering with SAP Vol. 1 Ralf Meyer: Partnering with SAP Vol. 1
Extra Chapter 3.1
“SAP® Ecosystem Hub”
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for “book buyers of Herstellung und Verlag für Partnering with SAP: Books on De-
mand GmbH, Norderstedt.
Cover design: Goetz Burger, www.plan33.de
ISBN-13: 9783837060553
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Partnering with SAP Vol. 1 Copyright © 2008 Synomic GmbH
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced
Ralf Meyer or distributed in any form or by any means, or stored in a data-
Business models for software companies base or Internet solution, without the prior written permission of
ISBN-13: 9783837060553 the publisher.
SAP EcoHub © 2008 Synomic GmbH SAP EcoHub © 2008 Synomic GmbH
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Ralf Meyer: Partnering with SAP Vol. 1 Ralf Meyer: Partnering with SAP Vol. 1
1.1. Ecosystem Hub Customer ownership and account control: full owner-
ship and customer control by you. SAP forwards the
Chapter Summary customer request for buying to you.
SAP offers an online solution marketplace with the opportu- Go-to-market: SAP offers the opportunity to advertise,
nity to advertise partner solutions exactly where customers no additional go-to-market attached.
are looking for SAP´s solutions, on the SAP ecosystem hub Marketing support: No marketing support except adver-
website http://ecohub.sap.com. tising space.
1.1.1. Definition of Ecosystem Hub Quality Assurance: You test your software.
The Ecosystem Hub is an online marketplace for advertising Support: Support is done by you for your solutions.
partner solutions and solutions resold by SAP. Besides the Ecosystem Hub is a global partnership model. You get ad-
solution name, partners can include collaterals, success sto- vertising space on SAP´s global website
ries and whitepapers on this site. http://ecohub.sap.com. Customers are able to browse SAP´s
Customers can look up and select partner solutions on the solution offering and can find your advertised solution, too.
Ecosystem Hub website. Once a customer is interested in a Customers and partners can also attach ratings and reviews
solution, the customer enters his contact data and SAP for- to the advertised products.
ward this contact data to the partner. SAP´s goal for this partnership model is maximizing the
Online reviews and ratings of the solutions and links to the revenue from platform user licenses and maximizing the
SAP developer network information about the solutions platform adoption of SAP´s NetWeaver platform. Platform
complete the information provided on the Ecosystem Hub. User Licenses are licenses sold by SAP to customers when
customers run partner solutions on the SAP NetWeaver plat-
Ecosystem Hub Participation at SAP means the following:
form.
Shipment of products: Partner ships products.
The following figure shows the services and payments flow-
Pricing: Partner determines pricing ing for SAP Ecosystem Hub. SAP customers pay a license
Branding: partner-branded only, some co-branded SAP and maintenance fee for the software sold by the partner.
resellers show up on the site, too The SAP partner pays fees for certification, for membership
in the SAP PartnerEdge Partner program and for advertising
Intellectual Property (IP): SAP keeps its IP, you keep on the SAP Ecosystem Hub.
your IP.
Booking revenue: Selling on your paper.
SAP EcoHub © 2008 Synomic GmbH SAP EcoHub © 2008 Synomic GmbH
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Ralf Meyer: Partnering with SAP Vol. 1 Ralf Meyer: Partnering with SAP Vol. 1
SAP Partner Edge membership
Ecosystem Hub
SAP Certified solution
See the chapter on Certified Solutions for more information.
Software
Partners
Platform User License Certification
Provide To get a Platform User License Certification, you have to
Eco Hub
prove that your solution is certified on a selection of inter-
SAP
Sell platform
Customers faces. The simplest way to get this certification when your
user licenses solution calls SAP´s Enterprise Services.
Products, Solution fit
Assets or
Payments
Services Your solution covers a whitespace that is important for SAP
customers to cover. Your counterparts in SAP business de-
velopment will ask for this, so be prepared to show that your
Copyright © 2008 Synomic GmbH
Figure 1: Ecosystem Hub solution is a great complement to SAP´s solution.
1.1.2. Requirements for Ecosystem Hub Non-competitive solution and behavior
The following key requirements qualify a partner solution to It is obvious that your solution resold by SAP should be
become a Ecosystem Hub for SAP: non-competitive. But the rest of your product portfolio and
roadmap will also be scanned carefully for competitive of-
SAP PartnerEdge membership, ferings. If there is a competitive offering, SAP sales will be
Partner has a SAP Certified Solution, very careful in Ecosystem Hubing your solution and that is
not good for the overall revenue.
Partner has Platform User License Certification
The behavior of your sales force is also key for a successful
EcoHub Participation Agreement signed. cooperation with SAP. Make it very clear to your sales force
For you as a partner, the solution has to have a significant that they should avoid competitive behavior with SAP sales.
revenue potential in the SAP customer space. SAP will also
watch if you have a non-competitive solution and show also
non-competitive behavior.
SAP EcoHub © 2008 Synomic GmbH SAP EcoHub © 2008 Synomic GmbH
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Ralf Meyer: Partnering with SAP Vol. 1 Ralf Meyer: Partnering with SAP Vol. 1
1.1.3. Process to get a Ecosystem Hub part- Simplicity in packaging and licensing. Package and
nership license your solution in three T-shirt sizes, e.g. for
200.000 Euro, 500.000 Euro, 1 Mio Euro.
The process has several steps:
Non-competitive solution portfolio and no channel
Join the PartnerEdge partner program by joining on the conflicts.
website http://www.partnerwithsap.com;
Certify your solution, see separate section on certified What to do
solutions in this book; Make sure there are high revenue expectations for your
Get Platform User License certification sales into the SAP customer base and you have refer-
ences of SAP customers.
Get in contact with the SAP Ecosystem Hub Team via
email to EcoHub_Partners@sap.com. Make sure there is solution fit with SAP product portfo-
lio and your entry price tag is high.
Sign the Ecosystem Hub Participation Agreement
Follow the simple process laid out on the Ecosystem
1.1.4. Survival tips from existing Ecosystem Hub website
Hub partners o Join the PartnerEdge partner program by
joining on the website
1.1.5. Cheat sheet Ecosystem Hub http://www.partnerwithsap.com ;
Key Requirements o Certify your solution, see separate section on
certified solutions in this book;
SAP Partner Edge membership must be in place. If
you don´t have a SAP Partner Edge Partnership yet, o Get in contact with the SAP Ecosystem Hub
you have to apply for it. Fee will be about 3400 US dol- Team via email to
lars. EcoHub_Partners@sap.com
Platform User License Certification: entry price tag o Sign the Ecosystem Hub Participation
should be between 100.000 Euro and 150.000 Euro. Agreement
SAP sales are used to high price tags and motivation of
SAP sales requires high entry price tags. What to expect
If you are missing one of the key requirements above, it
will be impossible to convince SAP.
SAP EcoHub © 2008 Synomic GmbH SAP EcoHub © 2008 Synomic GmbH
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Ralf Meyer: Partnering with SAP Vol. 1 Ralf Meyer: Partnering with SAP Vol. 1
Expect the overall process from initial contact to execu-
tion by the SAP field organization to take about 1-2
months if your solution is already certified, 3-6 months
if your solution is not certified yet.
What to avoid
Competitive solutions: if you have a competitive solu- Please occasionally visit
tion, it is questionable that customers will search for it www.synomic.com/partnerbook
on a SAP website. for further updates and downloads.
What if SAP does not want to enroll you to Ecosys-
tem Hub? Your feedback is appreciated via email at
Ask SAP for regional or local partnership programs.
partnerbook@synomic.com
Go for Endorsed Business Solution: a revenue share is
better than no agreement with SAP.
Go for Referral or reselling through partners or direct
access to customers through partner consultants or
through customer communities and SAP events.
What if SAP does not want to enroll you to Ecosys-
tem Hub?
Ask SAP for regional or local partnership programs. Copyright © 2008 Synomic GmbH
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced
Go for Endorsed Business Solution: a revenue share is or distributed in any form or by any means, or stored in a data-
better than no agreement with SAP. base or Internet solution, without the prior written permission of
the publisher.
Go for Referral or reselling through partners or direct
access to customers through partner consultants or
through customer communities and SAP events.
SAP EcoHub © 2008 Synomic GmbH SAP EcoHub © 2008 Synomic GmbH
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