Here at xTuple, on a wall behind our support team are maps with lots of colored pins. We have a detailed map of the United States and a World map. The world map isn't new but many of the pins in it are. The pins signify partners and customers. Kind of 'old school' but fun, in a non-techy sort of way!
Here's the Google maps version:
In addition to our amply-dotted map of the United States, as you can see, our world map is getting pretty colorful as well. The xTuple community has increased to over 30,000 users and our partner network has increased accordingly. One third of our total partner group are in locations outside of the US including Canada, Mexico, Dominican Republic, Brazil, Australia, Japan, Singapore, Germany, Nigeria, Pakistan and India. Within the first six months of 2010, we doubled our International footprint.
It's a powerful thing to be able to connect our international users with trained partners located in their market! In August, we held a sold-out, two week training course with back-to-back Intro and Power User classes. This was a first for us (certainly not the last) and the result of our recent International partner additions. If you're gonna fly across continents, you want to get as much done as possible.
Training is just the start of things too. xTuple works with partners on continuing product education. We have special remote training classes to keep xTuple partners fresh on new features once they've done "basic training" in person. And xTuple partners receive unlimited technical support, an important distinction for xTuple. For our partners, xTuple is only a phone call or an email away. Often with other software providers, this type of support is limited to only a handful of emails (never phone calls), or your access to support is predicated on volume of revenue generated by the partner. We support all partners for all products, even the free PostBooks edition.
Although we don't have pins in every part of the world map, it is filling up fast. I personally spend more and more of my days connecting our users and prospective users with our partners around the world. I'm currently discussing partnerships with people in the Philippines, China, and various other countries in Europe and Africa, just to name a few. Let me know if you're interested in becoming an xTuple partner. As we grow, so too do the opportunities for all of our partners both here and abroad. Email me, we'll let you choose your pin color!
Interested in working with a local partner, let me know that too. I'm happy to make the connection!