Process of Setting Up Partner Programs

There are four partner programs types: Authorization, Accreditation, Specialization and Program.

To set up a partner program, a brand owner performs the following tasks:

1. "Creating Partner Programs"

2. "Specifying Partner Program Approval Method"

3. "Associating Entitlements with Partner Programs"

4. "Setting Up Partner Program Applications"

5. "Setting Up Related Partner Programs"

6. "Setting Up Related Partner Programs"

7. "Setting Up Partner Program Tier Groups"

8. "Setting Up Partner Program Catalogs"

9. "Making Programs Visible to Partners"

Creating Partner Programs

The brand owner needs to create a record representing the partner program and to specify whether approval for this program is manual or depends on a eligibility list. This task is a step in "Process of Setting Up Partner Programs."

To set up a partner program  

1. Navigate to the Partner Programs, then the Program Design view.

2. In the Partner Programs list, add a new record and complete the necessary fields. Some fields are described in the following table.

   Field	Description
   Type	Select Program.
   Available To All	Select this check box to make this program public (no eligibility rules).
   Program End Date	Displays the date when the program ends.
   Delegated Application	Select this check box to allow to apply on behalf of branch organization.
   Auto Cascade	Select this check box to allow branch organizations to be automatically approved when the parent organization is approved. For example, if the Headquarters of a company is approved, the Western Branch, Eastern Branch and MidWest Branch are also approved.
   Status	Displays the status of the partner program. When the program is first created, the status is Pending. Note: If you change the status of a partner program to Active, the record becomes Read-Only.

   
   

3. In the More Info form, complete the necessary fields. Some fields are described in the following table.

   Field	Description
   Renewal Period Begin (Days)	Enter the number of days before membership expires that the partner can apply to renew membership.
   Renewal Period End (Days)	Enter the number of days after membership expires when the member can still apply to renew membership. This is a grace period after membership expires.
   Membership Length (Months)	Enter the number of months that membership lasts. Use either this field or the Fixed Membership End Date field.
   Fixed Membership End Date	Displays the date when membership expires. To remain members after this date, partners must apply to renew their membership. This date is calculated based on the membership length that was entered Membership Length field of the Partner Program Design, More Info tab.

   
   

Note: After you create the Partner program record, Siebel Partner Manager automatically creates an access group with a name that is the combination of the partner program name and the organization name. Siebel Partner Manager automatically maintains this Access Group by adding or removing Access Group members based on the partners' membership status within that partner program. For more information on partner program membership, see "Partner Program Administration."

Specifying Partner Program Approval Method

Partner program applications can be approved in three ways, depending on which of the following values is selected in the Approval Method field:

• Approve All. All applications are approved automatically without review.

• Approval List. Partners are approved based on an eligibility list. If you use this method, you must set up an eligibility list, as described in "Eligibility Administration for Partner Programs".

• Manual. The brand owner reviews each application individually in the Application Inbox view and approves or rejects each application manually. If you use this method, you must review applications, as described in "Process of Reviewing Applications to Partner Programs"

This task is a step in "Process of Setting Up Partner Programs."

To specify partner program approval method  

1. Navigate to the Partner Programs screen, then the Program Design view.

2. In the desired program, drill down on the program name.

3. In the More Info view, in the Approval Method field, select Approve All, Approval List, or Manual.

Associating Entitlements with Partner Programs

You can associate entitlements with one or more partner programs. For example, partners in a specific partner program might be entitled to one year of free technical support in using your product.

To associate an entitlement with a program, you must create an entitlement template and associate it with the partner program.

The entitlement associated with a partner program can be added to a partner's existing agreement either during the application approval process or after the partner's membership has been approved. If no agreement exists for the partner, the partner manager at the brand owner company can create one from the Partner Application or Partner Membership view.

When you create a partner program, the Siebel Business Application creates a Product record in the background, so it can associate entitlements with this product. The product has the same name as the partner program, and it has Partner Program selected in the Type field of the Product record. For more information about creating the entitlement template, see Siebel Field Service Guide.

This task is a step in "Process of Setting Up Partner Programs."

To associate entitlement templates with a partner program 

1. Navigate to the Partner Programs screen, then the Program Design view.

2. In the desired program, drill down on the program name.

3. Click the Entitlement Templates view tab.

4. In the Entitlement Templates list, you can add one or more new records by selecting an entitlement template for each new record.

Setting Up Partner Program Applications

A partner program application is a form that the partner completes on the PRM Portal when applying to join a partner program.

Before you set up the application in Partner Manager, you must define the application in one of the following ways:

• SmartScripts. Each program can have one SmartScript initial application and one Smartscript renewal application. The actual design and administration of SmartScripts are performed in the SmartScript Administration screen. For more information on SmartScripts, see Siebel SmartScript Administration Guide.

• External Applications. Alternatively, the brand owner can create .asp or .jsp pages that render the initial and renewal applications.

For any given partner program application, you can specify either SmartScript applications or external applications, but not both.

This task is a step in "Process of Setting Up Partner Programs."

To set up a partner program application 

1. Navigate to Partner Programs screen, then the Application Design view.

2. In the Application Design form, complete the necessary fields. Some fields are described in the following table.

   Field	Description
   Initial Application	Select the SmartScript script you want to use in the initial application.
   Renewal Application	Select the Smartscript you want to use in the renewal application.
   Initial URL	Enter the URL for an external application you want to use as the initial application.
   Renewal URL	Enter the URL for an external application you want to use as the renewal application.

   
   

Adding Literature to Partner Programs

Adding literature allows partners to download collateral, terms and conditions and other documents that detail the partner program. The partner can access this literature by drilling down on the partner program in the catalog on the PRM Portal.

This task is a step in "Process of Setting Up Partner Programs."

To add literature to a partner program 

1. Create the document to be used as literature in some external application.

2. Navigate to Administration - Document screen, then the Literature view, add a record to the Literature list, and select the document.

3. Navigate to Partner Programs screen, then the Program Design and drill down on the name of the partner program to which you want to add literature.

4. Click the Literature view tab, click Add and select the literature.

Setting Up Related Partner Programs

Related programs are programs that have a relationship with a base partner program. There are two types of related programs:

• Addenda. These programs are is not in the original agreement. For example, a base program that authorizes partners to be resellers might have addenda programs for each product the partners can sell. After a partner is a member of the base program, that partner can apply for the addenda programs; if the partner tries to apply to addenda programs without being a member of the base program, an error message is displayed.

• Prerequisite. This relationship is informational only. You can enter information here to tell partners that program A is prerequisite to program B, but the Siebel Business Application does not enforce this logic. To enforce this prerequisite, you must also make program B an addendum to program A.

This task is a step in "Process of Setting Up Partner Programs."

To set up an addenda program 

1. Navigate to Partner Programs screen, then the Program Design view, and create a new program.

   This is the addenda program, and it is created like other partner programs.

2. In the Partner's Program list, drill down on the name of the base program to which you want to relate the addenda program.

3. Click the Related Programs tab, add a new record to the list.

   1. Select the addenda program you created.

   2. As the Relationship Type, select Addenda.

Setting Up Partner Program Tier Groups

A program tier group is a group of programs that are related, usually in a tier structure. An example of a tier group is a program that has three status groups, a Silver group, a Gold group and a Platinum group.

A partner who is currently in the Silver group, for example, can upgrade to the Gold group. Note that PRM enforces that the partner can only be a member of one group at a time. For example, once a partner upgrades to Gold, that partner cannot still be in the Silver group.

Note: Partner tier groups are not related to the Partner Tier multi-value field on the Partner Profile view.

This task is a step in "Process of Setting Up Partner Programs."

To set up program tier group 

1. Navigate to Partner Programs screen, then the Program Tier Groups view.

2. In the Program Tier Groups list, add a new record and complete the necessary fields.

   The tiers you defined are available in Program Design, More Info view.

Use the following procedure to associate a program tier group with partner programs.

To associate a program tier group with partner programs 

1. Navigate to the Partner Programs screen, then the Program Design view.

2. Drill down on the name of a partner program.

3. Make sure the Status field is set to pending, so you can make changes in the program.

4. In the More Info form, in the Program Tier Group field, select the program tier group.

Setting Up Partner Program Catalogs

You set up a partner program catalog so partners using the Partner Portal can view and choose among your available programs in this catalog.

For complete information about setting up catalogs, see Siebel Order Management Guide.

This task is a step in "Process of Setting Up Partner Programs."

To set up a partner program catalog (brand owner) 

1. Navigate to the Administration - Catalog screen.

2. In the Catalogs list, add a new record and complete the necessary fields. Some fields are described in the following table.

   Field	Description
   Catalog Type	Select Partner Program.
   Private	If this catalog is to be private, select this check box. If the catalog is not private, all partners can see this catalog. If the catalog is private, you can control which partners can see the catalog.

   
   

3. If the catalog is private, you must add the partners to access groups to allow them to view the partner programs in the catalog:

   1. Drill down on the Catalog, click the Access Group view tab, and add one or more access groups for this catalog.

   2. Add the partner organization to the access group. For more information, see Siebel Security Guide.

4. Click the Categories view tab, and add a category.

5. In the Category form, click the Partner Program link.

   If the link is not in view, click the arrow at the right end of the links to see more options.

6. In the Partner Program view, click New to add Partner Programs to Categories.

Making Programs Visible to Partners

Only partner programs with the status Active are visible to partners on the PRM Portal.

If the catalog/category is marked as Private, the partner must be added into the access group. For more information, see "Setting Up Partner Program Catalogs".

If the program is not checked as Available to All, the partner has to be added to the Eligible Partners list to be able to see the program on the PRM portal. For more information, see "Eligibility Administration for Partner Programs".

To make a partner program visible to partners 

1. Navigate to the Partner Program screen, then the Program Design view.

2. In the Status field of the desired Partner Program record, select Active.