Intel started the Intel® Software Partner Program in 2006 to provide support to ISVs in terms of technology, marketing, and sales. The program is another offering from Intel to provide assistance to ISVs, OEMs, channel partners and system integrators, enabling them to deliver optimal customer value on Intel’s platforms.

According to Mercedes Ho, director of Asia-Pacific partnership and strategic business development, Intel SSG, “We have two major goals, one is to leverage Intel’s experience and technology to help the local software industry make good use of Intel’s tools, software and platforms in their R&D. Second, we hope to help our partners with their product development and help bring their products to the international market. We hope that this can help Intel as well as our local software vendors win more business opportunities.”

One of the features of the Intel Software Partner Program is the Channel Marketplace Program (CMP). This online sales platform allows member ISVs to tap into Intel’s nationwide channel to sell their software or solutions, and allow distributors and system integrators to purchase software and end-to-end solutions that they can combine with hardware products to provide total solutions to their customers.

“CMP enables Intel’s channel dealers and system integrators to form a software sales channel covering wider areas and with higher efficiency, saving marketing costs and bringing our software and solutions to more cities nationwide and directly to households and customers from different industries,” said Huang Yifan, general manger of StarSoftComm, an Intel Software Partner Program member participating in CMP. “It helps us enjoy more business opportunities.”

Industry-leading ISVs are not short of sales channels, brand recognition or capital. What they really need is the convergence between their software products and the world’s most advanced technologies so they can maintain strong competitiveness and leadership worldwide. Intel is a leader in developing cutting-edge technologies, and that is why many large ISVs in China and elsewhere are eager to collaborate with it.

“As China’s largest software enterprise, we collaborate with Intel mainly because of its technological advantages,” said Sun Yanbo, manager of market alliance at UFIDA. “Through the collaboration, we hope to grasp Intel’s advanced technologies so as to keep our industry leadership at home and even internationally.” According to Sun, the U9, to be launched by UFIDA soon, is developed based on Microsoft’s latest platform and Intel’s latest technology, and “it is safe to say that this product is quite advanced in the world.”

Similarly, as one of the leading companies in China’s interior decoration software market, Guangzhou YuanFang has successfully made use of Intel’s visualization technology to secure its leadership in China with the help of Intel, according to its deputy general manager Hu Yi. “Guangzhou YuanFang began its collaboration with Intel as early as in 1997, but previous collaboration was mostly about technology. After joining the Intel Software Partner Program in 2006, we felt stronger market support from Intel, such as helping promote our products in the industry and collaborating with OEMs.”

“We are often asked by users to provide hardware configuration patterns according to applications,” said Xu Zhidong, deputy general manager of TongTech. “I think the best service is providing maximum application effect to users at the lowest price. From this perspective, software and hardware--especially the right choice of CPU--is very critical to improving user satisfaction.” Through collaboration with Intel, TongTech’s application system has been optimized and tested on Intel equipment, and the company has learned how to optimize the efficiency of these applications through effective hardware configuration. “It’s very important to us,” Xu emphasized.

Wang Liguang, digital product manager for Sobey, thinks that Intel has provided great technological support. It is because of its collaboration with Intel that Sobey achieved technological excellence with the help of Intel’s cutting-edge technologies. For example, Sobey was the first ISV in China to get a sample when Intel released the 45nm technology last year. This collaboration has eliminated Sobey’s dependence on specialized hardware makers, triggering a stirring reform on the entire radio and television industry. Now, Sobey’s technology can support any IO card available on the market and greatly reduce costs of specialized equipment and solutions for video signal processing.

Intel’s goal is to help ISVs make full use of Intel’s latest technologies to achieve their technological and application innovation. “Intel’s collaboration with ISVs has no additional conditions on sales, which is different from the collaboration between many other manufacturers and ISVs. Intel is dedicated to its goal of collaborating with ISVs for the long term,” said Mercedes Ho. In addition to its support of ISVs in China and elsewhere in the world, Intel also has increased its collaboration projects with universities. This has boosted the development of China’s local software industry, while enabling Intel to promote application development.

To Mercedes Ho, the Chinese software industry is like a land that nurtures Intel’s growth, and a healthy ecosystem here will ensure Intel’s growth in the long term. “Only when China’s local software industry becomes successful can Intel achieve greater success in China.”