AT&T invests $300M in its solution providers effort, drives more API development

AT&T (NYSE: T) has taken another step to expand its work with third-party solution providers via a three-year $300 million investment in its Partner Exchange Reseller Program.

This allocation of capital, which is expected to be spent this year and next year, is set on driving more application programming interface (API) development and providing a set of programs and services that it says will speed up solution providers' move from traditional upfront sales compensation to a recurring revenue stream. 

It builds on the Partner Exchange program it created last February that allows solution providers to sell AT&T's suite of IP-based services to their business customer base.

Brooks McCorcle, president, Emerging Business Markets for AT&T, said the company is seeing continual interest in the Partner Exchange program. "Response to AT&T Partner Exchange has been overwhelmingly positive – it's all about collaboration and innovation between AT&T and resellers," McCorcle said in a release.

The service provider also struck agreements with GE Capital, Commercial Distribution Finance, Wells Fargo Capital Finance and AT&T Capital Services Inc. to help solution providers in the AT&T Partner Exchange reseller program get access to working capital to grow their businesses.

By having access to AT&T's APIs, solution providers can not only reduce cycle times, but also reduce operating costs. They can also enable solution providers to differentiate themselves by offering Service Level Agreements (SLAs) to potential customers.

Participating companies will be able to get access to AT&T's portfolio of mobility, cloud and IP networking solutions. From there, they can create a custom solution for their business clients, including a bundle of the service provider's hardware, software and managed services.

For more:
- see the release

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