Infor, the industry cloud company, has announced its new Micro-vertical Specialisation Program for the Infor Partner Network (IPN), an initiative designed for partners to showcase unique strengths and capabilities with Infor solutions in specific niche markets.
By awarding micro-vertical credentials, Infor is confirming that the partner organisation is knowledgeable and prepared to help customers optimise their use of Infor applications in a particular market such as power generation or prepared foods manufacturing. As part of the program’s pilot, eight partners were awarded specialisation designations in 15 different micro-verticals at the Infor Americas Partner Summit earlier this year. The application process is now open to Infor’s global partner community to help participating organisations benefit from increased credibility and market visibility across their areas of expertise.
This initiative coincides with the Micro-vertical Product Program (MVPP) launched by Infor in 2013, which allows partners to build industry-specific applications using Infor Mongoose, a development platform that enables users to easily design applications without knowledge of complex source code or programming languages. Together, these programs give partners the opportunity to play a critical role in helping Infor deliver comprehensive industry suites that address the unique business challenges of its customers.
“As a long-time Infor partner working with Infor CloudSuite™ Industrial (SyteLine), the Micro-vertical Specialisation Program gives Copley an opportunity to capitalise on our experience with medical device manufacturers,” said Robert Lane, chief executive officer, Copley Consulting Group. “Infor recognises the critical role of partners in providing last mile functionality across all micro-verticals, and this new initiative will only help to deepen those industry-specific capabilities for our customers.”
Infor partners Alfa-Beta Solutions, Central Data Systems, Copley Consulting Group, Guide Technologies, Maximum Computer Systems, Synergy Resources, Visual K, and Watermark Solutions have all been awarded specialisations in one or more micro-verticals, including dairy, automotive, fluid power and automation, pet food, medical devices, defense contracting, power generation and oil and gas. In order to receive a micro-vertical designation, partners must submit an application demonstrating subject matter expertise and current customers in the desired niche areas. This information is then validated by Infor industry strategy leaders to help ensure the partner can provide thought leadership and commercial insights to customers. Partners receive benefits including specialised logos, preferential lead distribution, micro-vertical designation on the Infor Partner Finder, and co-marketing activities with Infor micro-vertical campaigns.
“Our customers continue to seek software solutions that address unique micro-vertical requirements to help make their businesses more flexible and adaptive in today’s changing markets,” said Michael Carrillo, enablement director, Infor Partner Network. “The need to assist customers in this endeavor was the catalyst for our creation of both the Micro-vertical Products Program and the Micro-vertical Specialisation Program, both of which are designed to align Infor applications with experienced partner experts, so we can work collaboratively to help customers speed time to value and increase the return on their Infor investment.”
The IPN is a global network designed to provide the tools and resources necessary to help partners grow a profitable and sustainable business around Infor products.