Kentico Partners Program
Sep 6, 2016
by Roman Hutnyk
Kentico CMS is an enterprise Web Content Management System that provides set of features that allows building web sites easily. A huge amount of out-of-the box features, easy-to-use user interface, flexibility and abilities for customization make it popular choice for business development. It’s currently used by more than 25,000 websites in 100 countries backed by over 1,000 partners. A partner program, introduced by Kentico, aimed to expand the Kentico CMS user base worldwide, offers a lot of benefits and can become starting point to set up and develop your business. It is intended for marketing and interactive agencies, Web design agencies, freelance developers and designers who create websites for their clients. The Kentico Partner Program offers three partner levels, each with distinct requirements, as well as benefits to help you meet your business goals. As your relationship with Kentico evolves, so will the program benefits you receive. In this blog post we will consider main aspects and benefits of being Kentico Gold Partner.
At the begining let's briefly review how Kentico Partner Program works. It will give us better understanding what involves to be a Kentico Partner in general. Everything is pretty simple and clear and at some point it might look like a game where you should geather points to move level by levels. Though the basis of Kentico Partner Program is a Point System. The first step that will allow to start gathering points is to apply for Kentico Partner Program. After that you will have ability to perform various partner activities to increase your points amount and gain higher partner program level. By the way there is three Kentico partner levels. The activities can be the following: either Kentico license sales or submission of partner surveys, case studies, reference websites, Kentico Marketplace activities, Partner logo use and much more. In order not to fall behind the market you always need to prove your partner level. That's why some of the points can be obtained just one time and be valid for 1 or 2 years while others can be renewed after they expire.
After you successfuly passed two initial levels of Kentico Partnership program you will be entitled as Kentico Gold Partner. The Kentico Gold Partner status represents the highest level of Kentico Partnership. It is reserved for Kentico partners who have proven deep knowledge of the Kentico platform by participating actively in the Kentico community life and fullfiled the following requiremens: at least 300 points, 3 websites built on Kentico CMS platform and 1 Certified Developer.
So being Kentico Gold Partner brings a lot of benefits that makes it the smart choice for you and your business. Except such common benefits for all partner programs as:
- Very competitive end-user pricing
- No minimum sales volume requirements
- Online Partner Portal with all information, marketing materials and partner store
- Free license of Kentico
- Point System with an aggressive discount structure ensuring higher discounts for higher sales volumes and activities
- Quick and responsive technical support provided by an experienced team of support engineers
- Designated account manager to help you grow your business further
- Targeted marketing materials
- Listing in our online partner directory
- Discount vouched for certification
You will also get exclusive benefits that you will really enjoy:
- 30% discount off the end-user prices (for Kentico Software products and licenses)
- Sales leads - referring new clients to a partner
- Free not-for-resale licenses
- Involvement in such marketing programs as Market Development Funds and you can be featured as a "Partner of the Month" in Kentico Newsletter that may help you to extend your client-base quicker
Besides that exclusively for Gold Partners Kentico launches different partner competencies. Kentico Partner Competencies is a way for Gold Partners to highlight their specific expertise and show their strengths publicly. They also help clients find the right partner for their project, with the specific skills they are looking for. Currently available Partner Competencies are Microsoft Azure, Intranet, E-commerce, Online Marketing, Development & Integration. To be able to use listed competencies you need to pass appropriate knowledge test and prove that you are an expert in defined area.
As it is mentioned above Kentico partners program helps to develop and advertise your business as well as proves your level of expertise with the technology. Kentico partner directory allows potential clients find partners by service type
(hosting or development) in their area or across the world as well as filter by other criteria. Being a Kentico Gold Partner means being higher in the partners list, which increases chances for being peeked by client.
Being a Kentico partner also provides you with great opportunity to influence directions and strategy Kentico takes, as Kentico conducts a lot of partners events, where they gather the information about your needs and issues you have, features you lack, etc., so you opinion matters! Of course you will also benefit from experience sharing as well as gaining great connections during those sessions. Kentico community is rather friendly than competitive.
