Panzura Powers Enterprise Deal Registration with AllianceHub

Enterprise Resellers Demand Ease of Use

Panzura's hybrid cloud file and data services platforms are a compelling proposition for the channel, where enterprise clients demand industry-leading solutions to manage, protect, and move unstructured data.

The company's channel partner program needs a partner portal that encourages early deal registration to give resellers certainty over deal ownership. It must also deliver collateral for every stage of the sales process, so channel partners can keep deals moving at their clients' pace. That means they can't afford any points of friction — from creating an account to registering a deal, the process has to be quick and easy.

From PRM to Custom Partner Portal  

Panzura's changing requirements had seen it use several different partner relationship management platforms, including Allbound. They'd experienced the trade-offs between ease of use, speed of deployment, and flexibility first hand and, with an eye on HubSpot's rapid evolution, wanted to bring their partner portal into HubSpot.

That's where Panzura's sales, service, provisioning, support, and marketing tools already sat, so running a separate PRM platform no longer made sense. However, when the AllianceHub team (then running customer success at Panzura), began looking for HubSpot-native PRM options, they were very thin on the ground. None met our needs.

Before we could build what we wanted, a company restructure saw us go our separate ways. We built AllianceHub, while Panzura selected a HubSpot-recommended agency to commence a custom build.

Panzura's first HubSpot-native partner portal used a well-crafted custom partner object, which made for easy partner <> deal associations behind the scenes. However, the portal front end was a different story.

Resellers weren't using it. Some information it displayed was inaccurate. Its deal registration form asked for so much information it took minutes to complete. Many of the details it asked for — like the submitter's name and complete contact details — weren't even necessary, because they were already captured in HubSpot. Resellers were also relying on Panzura's channel team for collateral, because the portal's approach to sales and marketing material made it difficult to find.

The Third Time's the Charm 

When we returned to Panzura, the first thing the director of channel asked was "Can you please do something about this partner portal?" Within the week, AllianceHub was installed, configured, live, and registering deals.

Whenever a deal is registered, instant triggers let the channel team swing into action to review and accept it, assign Panzura sales and solution support, and keep the reseller informed every step of the way.

Customized deal stages mean partner-led deals can be worked until they're ready to move into the main pipeline for forecasting and the reseller reps, along with their administrators, can see updates in real time.

Key Achievements

• A 250% increase in reseller login rates and deal submission rates: Partners are now actively using the portal because it's simple, fast, and delivers real value.

• Reduced friction: The time between a partner logging in and submitting a deal was reduced to under two minutes, eliminating the operational friction that had plagued the old system.

• Improved pipeline visibility: Panzura's channel team now has a clear and real-time view of the partner-led pipeline, enabling better forecasting and strategic planning.