Are Reseller Licensing Services “Good Enough?”

“Why pay for license optimization and advice when our reseller chucks it in for free?”

The answer is simple. We’re an independent advisory firm that works in your favor to find cost optimization and efficiencies. We’re not just any vendor. We’ve got the right people who get results.

To be fair, resellers have good people who do their best given their organizational constraints. We’re able to work around them and advise holistically without bias.

Free Isn’t Free

Don’t let a reseller fool you with a good deal. “Free,” or even fee-based, reseller licensing services can cost you. That’s why Remend’s licensing services save you time, money and headaches.

Resellers toe the line with publishers’ business practices because of the contractual obligation enforced by their partner agreements. Moreover, reseller personnel often lack the experience or confidence to bypass unenforceable publisher policies. It is vital that your license advisor disclose the differences between aggressive sales practices and legitimate risk.

Let’s take a look at how publishers persuade resellers to do their bidding.

Publisher Loyalties

Resellers walk a fine line between balancing your interests and the publisher’s desires. Yes, a trustworthy relationship and a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) neutralize concerns, but the lucrative publisher incentives can cloud the reseller’s objectivity.

• Contracts require resellers to report customer “non-compliance.”
• Resellers make more on high-priced SKUs and get a bonus for selling flashy new products.
• Reseller partner status depends on hitting publisher metrics and revenue goals.

We’ve seen resellers shy away from optimization and audit defense just to keep publishers happy.

What’s our focus then? Delivering real value to you, not brown-nosing publishers to receive an incentive that benefits only us.

Organizational Blinders

You may like your reseller because your rep is friendly, efficient and ticks all the boxes. This makes everyday business and conversations easy. The structure of their overall support team can hold your operation and implementation back.

• The reseller might only target certain industries or organization sizes, making subject matter expertise hard to come by.
• The reseller stretches its resources thin across multiple publishers, often relying on other team members rolling in with their agendas.
• The reseller’s visibility into deals may be regional, limiting their knowledge of what’s universally possible.

Remend works globally, across industries, with organizations big and small. Our team has in-depth expertise with years of publisher-specific experience that enables us to view a situation from the publisher’s perspective. We built our team structure to benefit you by maximizing value, finding the best software options and supporting your IT team.

Lack of Competition

It’s possible that you’ve been with your reseller for ages, and they’ve stood with you to secure decent contracts. Now, you’re just another revenue line for them to maintain. More than likely, they’ve quietly secured a higher margin while keeping your costs the same.

What does this mean? Trusting only their perspective can be costly to you.

• Resellers won’t bother comparing prices and packages with other resellers.
• Resellers may lock you into “license management” platforms from which they profit.
• Doing all your buying through resellers puts you at risk of being complacent.

Sure, buying from a single reseller is simple, but outside expertise adds vital checks and balances when planning and executing licensing approaches. We help you review options and proposals, including the incumbent’s, to find savings that improve your bottom line and more than cover our fee.

Channel Limits

Keep in mind that not every publisher sells through resellers. Publishers can sell directly to their best customers, cutting resellers out and boosting their margins.

Resellers may offer licensing services only for products they sell and understand. If they encounter significant challenges with a publisher that doesn’t play nice with others, they will avoid doing business with them, limiting choices.

• A reseller may walk away from a publisher, refusing a licensing sale.
• A reseller may lack expertise but still give it a go, achieving subpar results.
• A reseller might look elsewhere for licensing expertise. (Hint: They often come to us.)

Our team, and all our principal consultants, have worked for top-tier software providers and have a results-driven track record. Our experience, tenure and partnerships help us work seamlessly with both large enterprises and niche publishers.

Do we replace your reseller?

It depends. Good resellers add value by supporting customers and managing licensing, which is important. We’re here to collaborate with you and your reseller to ensure your success from beginning to end. If the reseller isn’t meeting your needs, we’re ready to bring others to the table and find the right solution for your organization.