We will consider configuring a VAR model in this document.
What Is a Reseller Account?
In CloudBlue Commerce, a reseller account is created differently compared to a customer account. You can create a reseller account only by converting a customer account into a reseller account. A customer can become a reseller by subscribing to a special Reseller Service Plan prepared by a provider. This service plan is created preliminarily by a provider in Billing control panel. A reseller account can be created by the provider via PCP or when a customer buys a reseller service plan.
Reseller Account Creation
A reseller creation process in general is shown on the scheme below. The scheme shows the main steps of the process and in what control panel they should be performed.
Now let's consider the process of creation a reseller account in more details. The following steps are necessary to create and configure a reseller account:
- Prepare and configure order flow for a reseller. CloudBlue Commerce has several default order flow templates. To prepare and configure an order flow template for a reseller, you can use the same order flow template as yours or copy and configure it as required by a reseller. For detailed information on configuring order flow, refer to the Configuring Order Flow section further in this guide.
- Prepare delegated service plans. You can configure separate service plans for a reseller with special prices and never sell these plans to your customers. The other way is to create a promotion or discount. When the reseller's customer buys services, the reseller gets resources from the provider at discounted prices. The reseller is allowed to adjust prices and the included amount of resources in both cases. The reseller gets service terms, plan categories and sales categories in which the delegated service plans are included. Service plan parameters such as unique groups and customer classes should be configured by the reseller. For detailed information on configuring service plans, refer to the Preparing Delegated Plans section further in this guide.
- Prepare notifications. Resellers get notification templates, which have the Visible to Resellers checkbox selected. It can be your templates or specially created for a reseller. Make sure that company specific information (name, address, telephone number and etc.) is replaced with placeholders. We recommend that you use the Billing set of default notification templates. If the reseller tries to edit such a notification template, he or she gets a copy and can use it further. For detailed information on configuring notifications, refer to the Preparing Notifications section further in this guide.
- Configure payment processing. You can allow a reseller to setup and use his or her own merchant account or operate through the provider's account. After a reseller account is created, payment processing settings are configured to use provider's account (if allowed by the provider) or not configured. For detailed information on configuring processing centers, refer to the Configuring Payment Processing section further in this guide.
- Configure a branding template. You can configure the template created by default or create a new one. A branding template contains a set of resources for creating a reseller subscription in Operations. This subscription will be used for providing branding services and may include such resources as number of accounts, available IP addresses and the like. For detailed information on configuring a branding template, refer to the Configuring Branding Template section further in this guide.
- Configure a reseller service template. You can configure the template created by default, or create a new one. A reseller template serves as a basis for service plans offered to potential resellers. Each reseller template includes a number of pre-configured Billing entities, such as delegated service templates, delegated service plans, an order flow template, privileges, as well as parameters required by external systems. For detailed information on configuring reseller service templates, refer to the Preparing Reseller Service Template section further in this guide.
- Create a reseller service plan. You can configure the reseller service plan created by default, or create a new one. Preparing a reseller service plan requires the following prior configuration to be done: credit terms, statement cycle, customer class, service terms, sales categories, plan category, subscription period and up-sales. For detailed information on configuring service plans, refer to the Preparing Reseller Service Plan section further in this guide.
- Add a domain up-sale plan. A reseller service plan requires a domain service plan to be configured as an up-sale. The domain name is used as a reseller subscription name. For detailed information on configuring up-sale plans, refer to the Adding Domain Up-Sale Plan section further in this guide.
- Publish a reseller service plan. To make the reseller service plan available to a potential reseller in the marketplace, it has to be "published" and included in a sales category. An up-sale plan should be included in one of the existing domain sales categories.
- Create a customer account that will be converted to a reseller account. For detailed information on the process of customer account creation, refer to the Creating Customer Account section of the Billing Provider's Guide.
- Subscribe a newly created customer to the reseller service plan. For detailed information on creating a subscription, refer to the Subscribing Customers to Service Plans section of the Billing Provider's Guide. After a customer is subscribed to the reseller service plan, the account is converted from customer to reseller type. You will see the account in the list of resellers in the Not Initialized status in PCP.
- Initialize the reseller account. For a reseller to start the reseller activity, the reseller account should be initialized. You can log in to Billing RCP on behalf of the reseller and initialize the reseller account by completing all the steps of the Reseller Activation Wizard. For more information about the wizard, refer to the Getting Started with Billing.
As a result, when new resellers enroll, they get sets of pre-defined and pre-configured services and settings. Namely, the set of delegated plans, configured payment processing settings, notification settings and privileges.