As eWeek pointed out back in April, "Who Owns the Customer" is a contentious issue in the channel. And with the recent release of our new Customer Renewals PartnerPath Solution, we believe we’ve answered that question.

While the vendor may own the customer’s license, it’s the VAR who owns the relationship. Thus, the VAR often has the greatest influence and impact on extending and growing the customer’s investment in the vendor. Ultimately, they both own slices of the pie.

The waters get murky here… What happens when a vendor loses out on revenue because licenses expire? Partners may have immature systems and processes or simply do not have the resources to follow up on expiring licenses. Or perhaps, the end customer may not be satisfied with their VAR and not pursue a renewal. The inclinations then tend to slide to an anti-channel idea that “we could do it better if we owned the customers ourselves”.

But wait, what if a vendor could somehow support their partners in the renewal process? Why not make it easier for partners to go back into the customer accounts that they know so well? Give dissatisfied or abandoned customers an easy way to connect with a new partner? The question then becomes: if renewing end customers were easier, would vendors find it more effective for partners to follow through on them?

We think the answer is yes. Why invest in more internal and direct sales processes, people and systems when a little collaboration with your partners can give you better results? That’s your queue to sound off—what do you think?