Semantra Signs Up Major Partners for Dynamics CRM Add-On
Semantra, which aims to make the data in Microsoft Dynamics CRM easier for
non-technical business users to search and analyze,
launched
a partner program Wednesday that already includes some high-profile Microsoft
partners.
The initial batch includes Tectura, ePartners, Hitachi Consulting, Quest, First
Tech Direct and I.B.I.S. The Dallas-based startup has about eight partners lined
up and is looking to eventually have about 20 partner relationships with Microsoft
National Systems Integrators and leading regional VARs.
The company has been engaging with the channel since April, and in May announced
the hiring of two executives to build its channel -- former Teradata executive
Kurt Pimental as vice president of business development and former ePartners
vice president Travis Grubbs as vice president of channel operations for Microsoft
Dynamics.
"We are 100 percent focused on channel sales," said Cody Aufricht,
vice president of marketing at Semantra. "Even though we'll do some of
our own demand creation, we will introduce a partner into any deals we take
down."
The new channel program includes a co-marketing program, sales incentives and
business development funds, among other benefits.
Semantra's channel buildout comes as the company prepares for the Oct. 1 release
of Semantra 2.5 for Microsoft Dynamics CRM, which Chris Davis, CEO of Semantra,
jokingly described as the "check-writing" release -- or the first
version that customers are expected to pay for -- of the product for the five-year-old
company. The private equity-backed firm with about 30 employees, mostly developers,
has spent part of the time since its inception finding the right market for
its technology.
The business intelligence technology allows users to enter common business
terms into a simple search box. Semantra requests clarification from the user
on vague terms, then translates the natural language request into a SQL query
to pull data from databases. The company optimized its product for Dynamics
CRM first, Davis said, because "we wanted to target an application of record,
one of import."
Semantra can also be integrated with Oracle and SAP, although Microsoft is
the major ISV partner at this point. Davis said Semantra has plans to optimize
for other Microsoft Dynamics applications in the next year, and possibly Microsoft
Office SharePoint later.
Posted by Scott Bekker on September 25, 2008