SAP opens up to smaller resellers

More 'Master VARs' to come?

McLoughlin said SAP looked at "a variety of criteria" including Extend's historic performance as an SAP partner, their existing infrastructure and growth potential, before choosing the company as the first Master VAR off the rank in Australia.

"Extend has the added advantage of being partially acquired by NTT Data," he said - referring to the work fellow NTT-owned iTelligence has done in Europe. "Extend can leverage the skill sets and packages developed there."

McLoughlin said that for now, SAP's intention is to work exclusively with Extend to "bed down the Master VAR program."

But that does not preclude SAP from appointing more Master VARs in the future.

"Our intention would be to review the program over time - we'd keep our options open there," McLoughlin said. "If we did add another Master VAR, we'd look at the Business Objects (BI) side of the business first."

McLaughlin said the Master VAR program might be seen as a reward for those partners that excel after making an investment in SAP's PartnerEdge program.