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Indirect channels are the future of distribution for SaaS applications. That's a bold statement - to date not very many software as a service companies have great track records of working with partners, as I talked about in my earlier post reacting to the Bessemer SaaS CEO forum.

At Intacct we're today working with more than 100 channel partners, and we made a big announcement today on our intent to dramatically expand this focus. I'd like to see us doing 50% of our business through channel partners by the end of the year, and 80% or more over the long term. We've designed the program so channel partners can build long term, attractive business models working with Intacct.

This is good news for companies looking for on-demand financial applications too- channel partners bring tremendous domain expertise, intellectual property, best practices and vertical industry capabilities to the table - my experience is that this will add significant business value for companies that select Intacct.

We're receiving lots of positive feedback to our channel-focused business strategy. WebCPA covered it here, eWeek here, IT Channel here, Channel Web here, and ITBusinessEdge here. Our friend Bob Scott at Accounting Today had some nice things to say too: "Given the recent discussion about channel conflict issues with Sage Software and rival NetSuite...I predict Intacct will get some test drives from some quality dealers."

Time will tell - I look forward to reporting here on the success and business value that Intacct's channel partners are delivering, and proving that SaaS and channels go together like peanut butter and jelly.