London, UK – 1st March 2011: EPiServer, the world’s fastest growing provider of platforms to drive online engagement, has boosted its partner network to 500 active partners worldwide, to take advantage of increasing demand for engaging websites that deliver results. The network, which includes design, e-commerce and digital agencies, as well as solution integrators, has grown significantly over the last twelve months.
2010 was a record breaking year for EPiServer. Revenues increased with more than 20% in local currency and the company continued to show solid profitability. The expansion of the company’s product portfolio and introduction of new services into the market was well received, with EPiServer Commerce leading the way with sales of close to 50 licenses since its release in June 2010. EPiServer Everweb saw increased revenues too, with 54 % compared to the previous year, reflecting the demand in the market for hosting and high availability for websites.
As Martin Henricson, CEO at EPiServer explains, a strong partner network is critical to EPiServer’s continued success: “The EPiServer partner network forms the backbone of our market strategy, providing unparalleled expertise and services to the clients that benefit from our platforms. Our ongoing commitment to creating new products and services, demonstrated through the launch of EPiServer Everweb and EPiServer Commerce during 2010, gives our partners exciting opportunities to add value and grow their offerings.”
The honour of becoming EPiServer’s 500th official global partner went to US-based e-commerce specialist, Guidance. Mike Hill, EVP Business Development at Guidance, comments: “Having closely evaluated a number of platform providers, EPiServer was the obvious choice. With the perfect combination of feature-rich functionality and ease-of-use, it really is one of the most sophisticated and cutting edge platforms on the market.”
With a strong, global partner network in place, EPiServer is poised to take advantage of marketers’ increasing focus on the four Cs of digital marketing, all supported by EPiServer’s products; content, commerce, community and communication. Recent research found that UK marketers will prioritise content creation in their website investment strategies over the next 12 months; increasing the amount of information available topped the list of the top three areas of focus (58%), followed by providing more personalised content (45%) and developing a member or customer portal (37%).
The UK has been a particular success story for EPiServer, with four partners signing up in Q4 2010 in the region. The new partners - Vivid Lime, Chameleon Net, PHWT and Innovation Digital – join a roster of 90 local partners. The buoyant UK partner network means EPiServer is getting closer to meeting its goal of expanding its UK operations by at least 50% over the next twelve months.
