There’s been a lot of hype around white-labeling in the channel, lately; as more companies move away from traditional IT and switch their business to the cloud, the market has never been so suitable for white-label services. Back when buying hardware was the only option for customers, the brand of the solutions on the market was the vendor’s – Microsoft, Dell, Acer, etc. It was the physical reality that end-users dealt with and service providers were there to build, manage and support. Now, with the white-labeling of hosted products, partners replace hardware as the physical contact customers have with the product: they become the product in some way, while the vendor’s brand remains in the back end.
With the new options available, choosing the right type of partner program for your organization can be puzzling at times. There are a number of important aspects to consider: your company’s size (1-man show vs. large corporation), your company’s track record (established vs. start-up) and your target market (SMBs vs. larger organizations), are just a few.
When considering partnering with a vendor to enhance your offering, it’s important to keep in mind that there is no one-size-fits-all solution. White-labeling can be a little more challenging for start-ups or smaller service providers, because it can be more time and resource-consuming than other programs. For larger businesses that already deal directly with end-customers, they are equipped to go with either the co-branding or white-labeling route; it’s more a question of which business model they prefer.
Here’s a list of pros and cons I’ve come up with to help you decide which program is better for your business.
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WHITE-LABELING |
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| PROS | CONS |
| Build your own brand By rebranding a vendor’s products as your own, you are reinforcing your own branding and reputation. You also build a stronger relation with your customers. |
Can be challenging for start-ups/smaller organizations As a smaller/new company, it can be a little more challenging to position yourself as the vendor. |
| Set your own margins You can set the price at which you want to resell the vendor’s offering. |
Requires in-depth IT knowledge As the go-to resource for your customers, you need to be able to answer all their IT-related questions and issues. |
| Maximize profits by bundling support Since you are in charge of supporting end-customers, you can bundle support and charge as much as you want for support. |
More resources required Being in charge of end-customer support typically requires having more resources. |
| Add value by selling 3rd party products By selling white-labeled 3rd party products, you can mix & match the offerings of different vendors and optimize your product line. |
Time-consuming/slower on-boarding You need to build documentation like FAQs, marketing and training tools, etc. |
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CO-BRANDING |
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| PROS | CONS |
| Leverage the vendor’s background and expertise Selling a product with the vendor’s branding allows you to use their whole story: background, awards, certifications, client base, etc. |
Building the vendor’s brand When you resell a vendor’s brand, you strengthen their branding. Although this is not necessarily bad, it doesn’t get your name out there as much as with a white-labeled solution. |
| Benefit from the vendor’s support You can focus on selling while the vendor takes care of supporting end-customers. |
Generating less profits When the vendor is in charge of support, you cannot make profits from charging end-customers for support. |
| Reduce resources With support being taken care of by the vendor, you can reduce expenses tied to hiring support staff. |
Controlled margins, vendor’s pricing When reselling a vendor’s offering with their branding, pricing is set by the vendor. This may mean less profit for your business. |
| Fast on-boarding Since on-boarding is taken care of by the vendor, you don’t have to worry about producing all the necessary collaterals; you can simply use what the vendor provides. |
Dealing with competition There is a lot of competition out there; when reselling a vendor’s offering, you have to keep in mind there are many others out there doing the same. |
To cater to the specific needs of the various organizations in the channel, Sherweb offers three different partner programs: White-label, Co-branded and Advisor. We work hard to minimize the cons of each program by ensuring partners have all the tools they need to successfully sell a competitive offer, regardless of the program they choose. For instance, our enablement, sales, and marketing tools make on-boarding simpler and quicker for our white-label partners. We also have an attractive advisor program for organizations that want to offer the cloud without having to acquire new resources or devote too much time to these efforts. The advisor concept is simple: you refer clients to Sherweb, and we reward you with recurring commissions.
There’s a lot more our channel team can do to help your business join the lucrative cloud business. Take a look at our Partner Guide for more information about becoming a partner today!
