That's assuming that partnering with one or two companies early on can be called starting your channel strat. I think it can as it gives you the experience of working with partners, their expectations, necessary processes and responsibilities.

And we partner with companies who are the trusted advisors of the clients. Accountants and lawyers in our case. As so many aspects of doing business is changing due to increased regulations (E.g. climate change) and better use of technology in typical business processes (E.g. RFID) businesses purchasing SaaS solutions in these spaces require the inclusion of prof services simply because they don't have the expertise in-house.

I have to say I'm somewhat disappointed that you happily report your SaaS apps require that sort of work, as I think that'll put you and your partners at a disadvantage in the future, when this sort of function is automated.

Its ALL about business outcomes. Those who can facilitate it– manufacturers and channel partners alike– will be the winners.

You're right- some apps do require professional services, and for that there will always need to be people. But the newer, better designed apps require less and less of this- they automate and make intuitive what used to be delivered by pro services and only deliver high value adding pro services now.

The problem I have with your assertion is that you work at an established vendor with a very established channel- which is not the case for most of the readers… You might be able to get this model to work but I can tell you from experience that most SaaS companies cant… SaaS companies shouldn't be told that they can move into that sort of position either… that's your competitive advantage and you're not going to give it up easily!

On-prem / SaaS integration is less of an issue at the low end as it is at the high. In the middle the water is muddy at the moment but I think that will change as more apps get migrated to the cloud. Channel partners have to shift their focus from installing/ integrating/migrating to adding value. Focusing on that keeps them at the bottom of the value chain where they will die.

So in answer to your last question- the web is the primary channel for 99% of SaaS companies. Because you were part of the first wave, selling low TCO software delivered through the browser, you've got used to selling like enterprise software and now you're owned by a public company, you're tied to their reporting and revenue expectations. This is not what the majority of SaaS companies can and should expect- most often their problem is having poor product/market fit and then expecting the channel to cover up their mistakes…

The way I look at it, Service Providers have had channels forever, right? They might not be SaaS providers, but their XaaS offer is similar enough to take a page out of their channel playbook, which is primarily the page with the word “AGENCY” at the top. There are other ways to do it, mostly dependent on IT support mechanisms that nobody has built yet. IT development cycles, however, are long, and companies are assessing if channels will work, and hence if the IT investment is one worth making.
SaaS and channels will work, because it has to. Last one to the finish line is a rotten egg.

You compare the web with the channel as sales vehicles. I don't know why you'd do that. One has a salesperson and the other doesn't. You ask “How can we expect a channel to sell it when we can't get it sold on the Web?” I disagree with the premise of that question. Hence, the answer is simple. You can expect different results from the channels because they have salespeople, and the web doesn't.