Infor wants to increase its EMEA channel partners by 20% by mid 2010. The recruitment will focus on seven countries, including the UK where Infor is seeking partners for its Performance Management (PM) and Enterprise Asset Management (EAM) solutions.

"Our approach to channel recruitment is totally focused on quality over quantity," maintains Jean-Philippe Pommel, Vice-President, EMEA Channels, Infor. "We are not looking to take on thousands of partners and risk dilution of our focused approach, but a smaller number of partners who are well aligned with our products and company ethos."

Infor has already successfully recruited 50 EMEA partners during 2009, whilst many existing partners have also signed up to sell additional Infor solutions. Infor's channel partners contribute 24% of global licence sales.

The quality of Infor's channel partner relations was demonstrated at the company's third annual EMEA partner conference, held in Baveno, Italy, in September, drawing 265 attendees from across EMEA. "Our commitment to providing a world-class channel program was evident in the largest attendance ever at our partner conference," states Pommel. "Our numbers were up 45% from last year, no doubt due to some of the great incentives we have just launched. We now offer our partners interest free financing and also incredible license and services rates for upgrades and exchanges within our new Flex program."

"But a happy, long-term vendor : partner relationship is never solely down to money. Our partners get huge support by regularly drawing upon Infor's industry knowledge and deep domain expertise within sales cycles. So, despite the current economic climate, it is an exciting time to be an Infor partner," concludes Pommel.