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The diagram below shows the workflows for the Platform-managed and Merchant-managed product lifecycles in Partner Ecosystem Management. The Platform-managed and Merchant-managed product lifecycles contain the same initial steps, but differ in their outcome. In the Platform-managed lifecycle, Resellers (Service Providers) resell or integrate a Merchant’s product through their own storefront. In the Merchant-managed lifecycle, Merchants offer statement billing when selling their products to customers on their own website. Merchants can offer statement billing to a Reseller’s customers through the Reseller’s billing system. Workflow Diagram
  1. Merchant creates a product group
  2. Merchant creates a product and adds it to the product group. The group must have at least one product in it. When a Merchant creates a product, they will choose how the product is intended to be managed through its lifecycle for a customer. The primary and recommended option is Platform-managed (via the Reseller’s store) using full Partner Ecosystem Management capabilities. Merchant-managed is available as an alternative.
  3. Reseller (Service Provider) discovers Merchant and their products
  4. Reseller sends request to partner
  5. Merchant approves or rejects the request
  6. If the Merchant approves, the Reseller and Merchant have a partnership
  7. Reseller creates an agreement for a product, selecting a product lifecycle and settlement model
  8. Reseller submits the agreement to the Merchant for approval
  9. Merchant approves or rejects the agreement
  10. If the Merchant approves, the agreement becomes active
  11. Depending on the selection of the product lifecycle and the settlement model in the agreement, the outcome is as follows:
    • With the Platform-managed product lifecycle, the Reseller publishes the product to an external catalog and resells the product
    • With the Merchant-managed product lifecycle, the Merchant sells the product on their own website and sends billing transactions to the Reseller