Partnerships are a key part of hosting. Service providers often partner with agents, resellers, and independent software vendors (ISVs) to deliver solutions to the market. Providers need systems to support many different types of relationships and business models.

Parallels solutions support several types of agent and reseller models. In an agency model, partners sell service plans that have been delegated to them by the service provider. In a reseller model, the service provider can determine the degree of independence a partner receives. Each part of the hosting solution can be owned by the reseller or provided by the service provider.

Parallels Solution

Parallels reseller solutions allow service providers to delegate control of sales and other specific items to agents and resellers. Each entity (service provider, reseller, sub-resellers) can manage their specific user and sub-reseller accounts using a web-based control panel. Some of these specific features include:

• Billing (both for reseller and end user)
• Provisioning
• E-Commerce
• Reporting
• Branding

Bright Ideas

Start with a simple program where partners can sell existing service bundles using their brand. As your various partner channels grow, offer the ability to set their own prices, use their own merchant bank, domain registrar, and unique resource bundles.