Google's new channel program: more lucrative but much tougher

The simplified two-tier program breaks down into three tracks: sales, service and technology.

The sales track covers high-volume resellers that generate revenue primarily by selling licenses; the service track applies to solution providers offering end-to-end services going beyond simply selling the product, such as systems integrators, MSPs and cloud brokers; and the technology track is for application developers complementing Google's technology.

By abandoning separate product programs, Google also is making it easier for partners to sell multiple enterprise products across the portfolio, like Maps For Work, Search For Work, Apps For Work and Chrome, one American partner told CRN US.

Some partners are thrilled with the changes, which will, as one partner told CRN US, "separate the men from the boys."

While partners in danger of losing Premier status don't need to worry about seeing their margins decrease, many are irked to be relegated to the lower tier.

The UK partner complained on a message board that while selling Microsoft Office 365 seemed a more financially lucrative decision, his company chose Google and has been evangelising its technology to an often skeptical business clientele. No fathomable level of success in his market would see sales exceed the half-million-dollar mark, he said.

"We would imagine that an awful lot of Premier partners (we were working towards that ) being relegated to standard partners is a very bitter pill to swallow. What a kick in the teeth!" that partner wrote.

Another partner based in Ireland wrote on the same message board that his entire country doesn't have enough business to make the threshold realistic for any partners.

"We won't be a Premier partner at the end of 2015, it is simply not possible, even if we got all the business," he wrote, speculating the same could be said for all small European countries.

"This strategy means there will be no indigenous Premier partners in any of those territories," the partner wrote, adding he believes the reason for the changes was diminishing sales of Google Apps and the decision to drive more business to a smaller set of partners to make sure they stay afloat.

Google's notice tells legacy Premier partners who wouldn't qualify under the new threshold that they can continue in the Premier tier through the transitional year of 2015. They then will be evaluated on the previous four quarters of performance, and if they don't meet the new standards, they will be dropped down to standard.

In a Frequently Asked Questions document sent to partners also obtained by CRN US, Google informed the community it developed the new program after considering feedback from its Partner Advisory Boards and annual Partner Satisfaction survey.

"We believe the changes will drive further profitability for your business, simplify the program and processes," reads the document.

Next: Maturing program