Drafting Agreements for Software and Technology Resellers and Distributors

Gain an understanding of traditional and evolving business models for reselling and distribution relationships.

Providers of products and services in software and technology industries can significantly expand their marketing and sales efforts and success by creating and relying on a network of resellers and distributors. In traditional structures, these relationships generally rely on so-called on-premises business models, where software or other technology is installed locally, on the customer's network or other locations controlled by the customer. Traditional business models also generally assume that the provider is the driving force behind the offering, with the reseller or distributor acting simply as a link and intermediary between the provider and end users. These traditional models present a range of legal issues, which remain of central relevance to newer reselling models.

Traditional models do not, however, address situations where the provider's product or service is one of many products and services bundled into a technology 'stack,' and other providers, including the entity providing the bundled offering to the end user, play a more central role in the chain of relationships. Moreover, traditional models do not address situations where the provider is offering cloud services and remains responsible for hosting elements of the final offering to end users.

Our panel will guide counsel through both traditional and evolving business models for reselling and distribution relationships. The panel will discuss key provisions of reseller and distributor agreements, present options as to the implementation of these key provisions, and identify the implications of counsel's choices with respect to these options.

Faculty

Ieuan G. Mahony

Holland & Knight LLP

H. Harold Lee

Holland & Knight LLP