PDS Consulting / Bundles / Partner Operations
Partner Operations Bundle
One bundled program that lands Sales Cloud, a branded Salesforce Experience Cloud partner portal, CPQ, and the integrations to ERP — designed as one operating model rather than a deal-registration spreadsheet, a SharePoint folder nobody opens, and a quarterly attribution argument. Channel operations is a coherence problem, not a tool problem. PDS sells the bundle because the partner operating model has to be designed once and applied consistently across all four engagements.
At a glance
- Includes
- CRM (Sales Cloud) + Experience Cloud partner portal + CPQ + Systems Integration — as one program
- Best for
- B2B companies with an active channel or partner-sales motion — manufacturing, distribution, or B2B software with VAR / referral networks
- Scope
- Single coordinated program — no Quick Start tier; complexity floor is too high for compression
- Sponsors
- CRO + VP Channel Sales primary; CFO / VP Finance co-sponsor for partner billing, MDF, and commissions scope
- Pricing
- Quote, on scope — with a transparent multi-engagement discount
Channel operations is a coherence problem, not a tool problem.
The most common failed channel-modernization programme has the same post-mortem. Sales Cloud was configured with one attribution rule. CPQ was configured with another. The portal was designed against a third. Integration to ERP was the last thing scoped and the first thing cut. The result is partner managers reconciling four sources of truth while attribution disputes pile up and partner adoption stalls. The bundle exists because the partner operating model — attribution rules, tier definitions, deal-registration logic, pricing structure — has to be designed once, signed by the CRO, and applied coherently across all four engagements. Unbundled procurement guarantees the coherence problem.
Does any of this sound familiar?
- Deal registration lives in a spreadsheet — and the person maintaining it is leaving.
- Partner managers spend half their time on attribution disputes because your systems don't agree on who sourced the deal.
- Partner-tier pricing exists in CPQ, but partners can't see it — so every quote is a phone call.
- Partner training is a SharePoint folder nobody opens, and newer partners are underperforming because they can't access what they need.
- MDF requests arrive by email; finance has no visibility and partners complain about turnaround time.
- You can't tell which partners are productive — no data to optimize against, no system that ties attribution to channel-sourced revenue.
Four engagements, one operating model.
Each component produces what the next one consumes — designed once, against the real partner data flows, not four separate guesses at attribution and pricing.
Foundation
CRM Implementation
The Sales Cloud foundation — partner accounts, partner contacts, partner-sourced opportunity tracking, attribution rules, partner-tier role hierarchy, and the partner sales process. The data model every other component depends on.
Partner portal
Salesforce Experience Cloud (partner portal)
Branded partner portal with deal registration, lead distribution, training tracks, co-marketing assets, and partner-tier pricing visibility pulled from CPQ. Beta-launched with real partners before broad rollout — adoption requires the portal to replace something partners currently have to do.
Partner pricing & quoting
Salesforce CPQ
Partner-tier pricing, channel-specific quoting, deal-registration workflow integration with CPQ approval gates. CPQ is what makes partner pricing visible to partners in the portal — without it, partners still call for every quote.
Connect it all
Systems Integration
The flows that tie it together — CRM↔ERP partner master, CPQ↔ERP partner pricing master, CPQ↔billing partner invoices, portal↔training platform (LMS), portal↔MDF system. In scope from day one, never bolted on after portal launch.
This bundle is built on Salesforce. PDS is independent — not a reseller, with no platform partner tier — so the recommendation always serves the channel, not a licensing margin.
How it runs — sequenced for the dependencies that matter.
Each phase produces the inputs the next phase requires. The partner operating model is locked first because it is the design decision every other configuration decision depends on.
01 · Joint kickoff & operating model
One discovery sprint across all four engagements. Attribution rules, partner-tier definitions, and deal-registration logic are locked and signed by the CRO before any configuration begins. This is the load-bearing decision for the whole programme.
02 · Sales Cloud live
Partner data model, attribution rules, role hierarchy, and partner-sourced opportunity tracking go live. CPQ Readiness Sprint runs in parallel once the data model is stable. Integration design begins across all four engagements.
03 · CPQ live; portal beta
Partner-tier pricing and deal-registration workflow go live in CPQ. Experience Cloud portal replacement mapping runs in parallel, followed by portal build and a beta with a small cohort of real partners. Integration flows come online progressively.
04 · Portal & integration live; rollout
Full portal launch — deal registration, training tracks, partner pricing visible, co-marketing assets surfaced. Remaining integration flows land (partner billing, MDF, commissions). Phased partner rollout, then transition to managed-operations retainers.
Why one tier, not Foundation and Enterprise. Partner operations is complex enough at the floor that Quick Start scope on each component doesn't add up to a viable channel solution. Attribution rules, partner-tier pricing, portal SSO / federated identity, and ERP integration are present in every engagement — compressing them produces a result partners won't adopt. This is a real programme, scoped to the actual motion.
What the bundle delivers that separate engagements don't.
- A partner operating model that is coherent across Sales Cloud, CPQ, the portal, and ERP — attribution rules, tier definitions, deal-registration logic, and pricing all designed once.
- Working deal registration with an audit trail, automated routing, and attribution that partners and internal teams both trust.
- Partner-tier pricing visible to partners in the portal — no phone call for every quote.
- Real channel-productivity data: partner performance, deal velocity, channel-sourced pipeline, and training completion — surfacing what's working and what isn't.
- Integration to ERP for partner billing, MDF, and commissions — in scope from day one, not an afterthought launched after the portal.
- A transparent bundle discount reflecting genuine shared-delivery efficiencies across four engagements.
What you're aiming at.
- Deal registration in-system, with documented routing and attribution — no spreadsheet, no manual reconciliation.
- Partner portal active-user adoption where the portal gates access to leads and pricing — partners use it because they have to, and then because it works.
- Channel-sourced opportunity attribution that is accurate and auditable — attribution dispute resolution time drops substantially.
- Partner training tracks completed and trackable per partner and per role — measurable enablement, not a SharePoint folder.
- MDF workflow automated — request, approval, disbursement tracking — with finance visibility across the whole process.
- One source of partner truth across sales, finance, and the channel — partner account, tier, and attribution agreed across every system.
Outcomes are what this bundle is built to deliver, grounded in the constituent services and the operating-model discipline that ties them together. As PDS partner-operations engagements close, this section gets measured numbers.
Who it's for.
- B2B companies with an active channel — manufacturing with dealer or reseller networks, distribution and wholesale with channel sellers, or B2B software companies with VAR / SI / referral partner programmes.
- At least 20 active partners (below that, manual process is enough; above that the bundle's value compounds as partner count grows).
- On Salesforce Sales Cloud already, or ready to build the CRM foundation as part of the programme.
- With CRO + VP Channel Sales executive sponsorship, and named champions in channel ops, partner marketing, sales ops, and IT.
- Often triggered by a new CRO mandate on channel modernisation, deal registration becoming unsustainable, a failed prior portal rollout to recover, or an M&A bringing in a partner network that needs consolidation.
When it's not the bundle.
- Pre-channel companies with no active partners yet — the programme requires real partners to design the operating model against.
- Direct-sales-only motions — over-tooling by definition.
- Single-partner relationships (one VAR, one channel) — manual coordination is enough, and bundle economics don't apply.
- Buyers committed to a specialty PRM platform (Impartner, Allbound, ZINFI) — this bundle is Salesforce-specific; a vendor evaluation conversation comes first.
- When only one component is the problem — we'll sell the component, not manufacture demand for the rest.
Not sure if your channel motion is bundle-shaped? A short scoping call is enough to tell whether the operating model complexity justifies the programme — and whether the full bundle or a smaller subset is the better first move.
No pitch, no pressure
One partner programme, not four separate tools.
A 30-minute call is enough to tell whether your channel motion is bundle-shaped — and whether the full programme or a smaller starting point is the right move.
Book a call →Or explore the other bundles or individual services.