Creating Profit Through Alliances - business models for collaboration E-book | Page 71

not without reason that Coca-Cola's brand value is
immense, and their product is available virtually
everywhere. This even forced Unilever to team up
with soft drinks giant Pepsico for its Lipton tea brand.
The clear distinction between tea/ice tea and other
soft drinks means that the partners do not interfere
with each other, even though they share the same
target group and distribution channels. These
channels can now be utilised jointly, which generates
a considerable cost benefit on account of the huge
volume.
There are also challenges for the distributor.
Especially with custom-built products or with services,
the contact between the supplier and customer
cannot be avoided. After making the deal with a
specific customer, the distribution partner has to

sustain his added value, which in most cases is based
on relatively easy to copy knowledge. This can be
done in several ways:





By sustaining a broader relationship with the
customer than for this solution only. The added
value of the distribution partner then lies in his
product portfolio and his further arrangements
with this customer.
By continuously bringing new one-off customers
into the alliance.
With a contractual arrangement, stating that all
business of the supplier with the distributor‟s
customer base has to be done through the
distributor.

Comsoft Direct
Comsoft Direct is one of the biggest large enterprise
resellers of Microsoft software and, as such, a
specialist in licensing structures and agreements.
Headquartered in Switzerland and active in a number
of European countries, the organisation offers
software management services in addition to the
licenses sales.

manager. In some cases Comsoft takes a partner‟s
licensing consultant on its payroll, which is fairly
unique for a reseller. Usually, only software providers
tend to do this.

For the small and medium enterprises market,
Microsoft works with distributors that sell to a large
range of resellers. For the large enterprises market
(up from 250 employees), Microsoft sells directly to
the customer directly, and Comsoft then receives a
fee from Microsoft.

Vincent Lukken, alliance manager at Comsoft, further
explains the approach: “New partners are selected
with a three-month trial period, mainly to see
whether the partner is sufficiently competitive. All
resellers receive from Microsoft the same discount on
the list price for the licenses. So what part of that
discount does the partner have to offer to the
customer and how is the remainder split between
him and us?

Comsoft works with a large number of commercial
partners for the hardware and consultancy that
complements the software licenses. Partnerships are
classified as „managed‟ or „unmanaged‟, with
managed partners having their own alliance

The next step is to conclude an agreement for six
months during which the partner will obtain its
licenses exclusively from Comsoft. In return, partners
demand a larger discount. In most cases a 50%-50%
split of the margin is agreed. This can vary, as the
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