Acquia is launching a new version of Drupal, an open-source content management system, which will give solution providers, IT consultants and Web developers an alternative to commercial CMS software.
With more and more businesses looking to climb on the Web 2.0 bandwagon, there's got to be a lot of opportunity for IT solution providers who can bring the benefits of a Web 2.0 implementation to end-user companies. Looking to capitalize on that trend, Acquia has created a distribution of open source Web 2.0 platform Drupal for blogs, communities, wikis and other content forms, in addition to providing subscriptions to support. The model follows how Red Hat has commercialized a Linux distribution and subscription support, according to Jeff Whatcott, vice president of marketing for Acquia.
Acquia announced its distribution of Drupal the first week in October, and on Oct. 14 the company embraced the indirect model by introducing a channel partner program targeted at IT consultants, hosting providers, ISVs with complementary technologies, and value-added distributors and resellers.
The program functions more like an affiliate program than a true reseller program, with partners realizing most of their revenues from the consulting fee they charge to customers for putting together their Web 2.0 implementation. Typically, implementations start at around $25,000, according to Whatcott. Partners also receive a commission ranging from 4 percent to 8 percent, depending on their tier in the program.
