Software partnerships reap biggest profits

Two thirds of all software sales are generated by partnership or "channel program" agreements, according to research company IDC.

Software vendors worldwide spent a total of US$5 billion on channel programs last year -- generating revenue of more than US$100 billion.

IDC said software vendors would increasingly focus on developing partnerships with small and medium size businesses in the next five years, as they would be the largest growth area.

Concentrating on "quality-rather-than-quantity" resellers, and greater flexibility with existing agreements will see the biggest gains, IDC said.