In today's digital landscape, traditional hardware-focused IT vendors are evolving to meet the changing needs of customers. One such example is NetApp, which has transitioned its business model to prioritize software, services, and consumption-based pricing. As the company continues to innovate, its partners play a vital role in navigating this shift.
The Power of Subscription-Based Pricing
NetApp's partner enablement strategy revolves around its portfolio of managed and unmanaged consumptive offerings, which are deeply connected to its private and public cloud solutions. According to Mathew Chacko, director, channel sales, consumptive solutions at NetApp, the company believes that these offerings empower partners to adopt a land-adopt-expand-renew (LAER) model in subscription-based selling.
The LAER Approach: A Path to Long-Term Relationships
The LAER approach is built around creating long-term relationships with customers. The "land" step represents the initial sale, while "adopt" covers activities designed to ensure customers successfully use the offering. This phase is particularly crucial for cloud-based, subscription software and services, as organizations are unlikely to renew an offering users don't embrace. The "expand" step encompasses up-selling and cross-selling initiatives that extend use. All these steps point to the ultimate goal of customer renewal.
Fueled by NetApp: Partner Enablement
NetApp's Fueled by NetApp (FBNA) program equips partners with best practices for go-to-market strategy and planning. FBNA covers pricing, packaging, defining use cases, creating service-level agreements, messaging, sales training, demand generation, and market awareness. These best practices create a foundation for selling subscription services.
Subscription-Based Offerings: A Path to Recurring Revenue
NetApp's lineup of consumption-based offerings provides partners with various entry points to customer sales. Cloud Volumes OnTap offers a way to land deals in the public cloud, allowing partners to help customers as they migrate to AWS, Microsoft Azure, or Google Cloud Platform. This offering is available as an hourly pay-as-you-go subscription or as a one-, two-, or three-year subscription.
The Future of App Startup Ideas: Unlocking Subscription-Based Revenue Streams
As NetApp continues to innovate and evolve its partner program, it's clear that the future of app startup ideas lies in subscription-based revenue streams. By embracing this model, partners can generate multiple, recurring revenue streams that have the potential to increase over time.