Celigo in channel-building mode

Celigo is in channel-building mode as it continues to react to increased market demand for cloud-based tools.

The integration-platform-as-a-service (iPaaS) specialist already works with the channel, but has seen the emergence of more demand and is keen to expand its coverage with partners.

“Integration is very horizontal. Every organisation has to deal with integration challenges so the addressable market is very large, and therefore partners play a very important role for us in terms of go to market. Today, about 80% of our transactions have a partner involved,” said Gert-Jan Wijman, senior director for Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) at Celigo.  

“80% is a good percentage, but we are growing rapidly. This year, we have the objective to triple the number of active partners, at least in the EMEA region, because we need to onboard and recruit more partners to keep up with our growth objectives,” he added.

Wijman said Celigo offered a range of options, but its sweet spot was cloud-to-cloud environments, and that meant it was often working with partners to target younger firms that had embraced concepts like iPaaS from the start.

“We focus on companies with modern infrastructures. Companies with modern infrastructures are typically younger companies and companies that are now in the mid-market. So that’s what we are and where we play,” he said.

Although most customers embark on their iPaaS journey with just a few applications, they usually add to that, and as they make that transition, the channel is in a position to start adding value around providing the right technology and advice on strategy.

“We need to have a more holistic solution for the whole enterprise, and that is where most of our partners want to go on that journey together through enablement,” said Wijman.

“iPaaS is a great category and is growing. Every company has integration problems and needs to solve them somehow. More and more companies are seeing iPaaS therefore as a holistic approach, as the way to go. We see that in our sales results, we see that in the growing number of clients, and we see that also in how they have expanded over time,” he added.

Celigo is enticing partners with talk of growth, strong demand and a mid-market that is ripe for the iPaaS pitch.

Wijman said a lot of its competitors were focusing on the IT department, and although that was important, there were advantages to working with partners to target the wider business to make sure all potential buyers were being reached.

“We see partners having great success with our platform in the sense that they can extend their line of business and develop deeper customer relationships. Importantly, they can also now become a meaningful partner for those IT departments and CIOs who want to leverage the business to bring solutions,” said Wijman.