Have you ever searched for a solution, found an interesting one, but you were not 100% sure if you can trust the provider?
Most people choose between two options – whether to cooperate with a global company or with a local one. However, they forget that there is also a third option to choose.
Although enxoo is a small company (100 people is not a big team if you compare us to a global corporation) we could proudly say that we have one of the best software in the world. Why? Because we are Salesforce ISV partner. I believe you have heard about Salesforce, haven’t you?
What does ISV stand for?
ISV is an Independent Software Vendor. Gartner describes an ISV as a producer that is not owned or controlled by a hardware manufacturer; a company whose primary function is to distribute software.
ISVs typically offer products that the primary vendor does not offer, allowing clients of that vendor to round out their software needs. ISVs create price competition and also increase the pace of technology innovation in their markets.
ISV is based on a partnership that allows one company to resell products of a second company or even built its own products on their platform. This sort of a partnership is common to the biggest software organizations like Microsoft, IBM, Oracle and of course Salesforce. The partnership allows both companies to gain significant benefits. For a technology provider, it opens opportunities to get new clients and enter new markets, and for a vendor, provides access to top-ranked technologies and leverages not only their business but also the quality of products built on reliable platforms.
Advantages for an ISV client
We’ve talked about pros for business partners, but what about customers? Are there any advantages of using products built by ISV partners? Of course, they are!
Let me name 4 benefits that I consider to be the most valuable to a potential customer.
Reliability. A solution from an ISV runs on a platform that belongs to a recognized company. This gives credibility that quality and performance of a solution would be at the highest levels.
Scalability. Do you want to have 100 or 10 000 users? It doesn’t matter. Again, you always get the same access to computing power, data storage and core features like the biggest companies in the world. You don’t have to worry what will happen with the performance of the solution if your company grows.
Security. Let me give Salesforce as an example. According to this global cloud computing company, Salesforce takes the safety of its clients’ data very seriously. In fact, it has been certified to comply with a number of international standards, including PCI DSS, FISMA, ISO/IEC 27001:2005, SAS 70 Type II, SysTrust, and Eu-US and Swiss-US Safe Harbor.
Hmmm… It MUST be safe!
Similarly, other big players also take security very seriously. They not only follow different international standards themselves but also require high-security standards from their partners. I’ve mentioned 3 advantages all of which refer to a primary vendor, so why exactly is an ISV such a great choice?
Partnership. Not a partnership between companies, but a partnership between a customer and a product provider. If you are working with a global company, how often do you have a chance to talk to a System Architect or you can impact on new features created in an out of the box solution? Smaller companies are more open to creating partnership relations and are looking at system customizations and improvements as an opportunity to satisfy a client. Bigger organizations usually treat a customer as a… next customer.
Cooperation with an ISV is a hybrid option that connects working with a top solution provider and a company for whom every client is important and treated in a special way.
Sounds interesting? Contact us and check what Skilo can do for you! 🙂
Point of view by:
Mateusz Jakóbik – Product Owner and Salesforce Consultant at enxoo responsible for product roadmap and strategy.