09 Launch plan
A 90-day beta with 25 design partners proves the motion works. Launch opens the Services path on a fixed date, after a check that the motion works. The Technology path, resellers and marketplace co-sell open six months later, using the same date-plus-check pattern. Every date is one partners can plan around, and every check keeps the date honest. Guard metrics protect the Services motion as new motions arrive. (Decisions 15, 59, 95 to 100, 102)
All of this is synthetic. Cloud Cruz, its partners, customers and numbers are invented, and the program's calendar (2027 to 2028) is part of the fiction. Every number below comes from the Year-1 data in
foundation/.
The timeline
| When | What | Decision |
|---|---|---|
| Jan 1 to Mar 31, 2027 | 90-day beta with 25 design partners | 15 |
| Mar 15, 2027 | Go/no-go check on four must-haves | 95 |
| Apr 1, 2027 | Launch: the Services path opens (agencies, consultancies, SIs) | 15, 95 |
| June 2027 | The partner advisory board meets for the first time | 59 |
| Jul 1, 2027 | First program review; confirms the Oct 1 openings | 58, 97 |
| Oct 1, 2027 | The Technology path, resellers and cloud marketplace co-sell open | 97 |
| Jan 1, 2028 | Second program review; the package budget is topped up | 58, 96 |
| Mar 31, 2028 | Year 1 ends | 65 |
The 90-day beta
Who. 25 design partners, to get the motion right before anyone else joins (decision 15): 17 agencies and boutique AI consultancies, 4 SIs and 4 ISVs as integration design partners. Most are Builder and Specialist, the segments that serve the mid-market customer (decision 31).
What they got. Everything a launch partner gets, run by hand so the team could see where it broke:
- A Slack Connect channel each, staffed by the partner team (decision 84)
- Implementation packages on Enterprise deals, with Cloud Cruz's partner solutions architect standing in as the Level 2 technical person, because no partner can have two go-lives in 90 days (decision 91)
- Partner sandbox accounts and pre-launch access, so they could pitch their own customers (decision 39)
- Fit and intent scored by hand, to calibrate the rules before automation took over (decision 69)
What it produced by Mar 31, 2027:
| Measure | Result |
|---|---|
| Design partners onboarded | 25 of 25, median 14 days from terms to onboarded |
| Deal registrations answered within 2 business days | 74 of 79 by Mar 15 |
| Partner deals won | 24: 13 Premium, 8 Enterprise, 3 self-serve |
| Customers live through partners | 7, through 4 design partners |
| Implementation packages approved | 8, for $19,250 |
What it taught. The beta used $19,250 of a $100,000 package budget. The package covers Enterprise deals only (decision 45), and most beta wins were Premium. That was the right call for Cloud Cruz's money, but it means the budget can't be spent on a schedule; it follows Enterprise deals as they arrive. So the unspent $80,750 carries into Year 1 (decision 96).
The Mar 15 check
Apr 1 is fixed. On Mar 15, the head of partner ecosystem checks four must-haves. If one is missed, launch goes ahead narrower, with Builder and Specialist only, never later (decision 95).
| Must-have | Bar | Mar 15 result |
|---|---|---|
| The full path works | At least 2 design partners each have a customer live | 2 partners, 2 customers: pass |
| The money path works | Commissions earning in the ledger; a test payout run through Tipalti | 4 commissions earned: pass |
| Onboarding is fast enough | Median under 30 days | 14 days: pass |
| Deal registrations get answered | 90% within 2 business days | 94%: pass |
The first real commission was released on Apr 15, once its 60-day hold ended (decision 21). The bar asks for a test payout because a beta can't wait out the hold.
Launch, Apr 1, 2027: the Services path
Agencies, consultancies and SIs can apply from Apr 1. Admission follows the fit line (decision 37), onboarding follows the standard or accelerated plan (decision 40), and long-tail partners move through it with no human touch where they can (decision 66).
What design partners keep (decision 98):
- A permanent "Design partner" label in the partner directory
- The first seats on the advisory board
- No tier head start: they begin at Member and earn tiers like everyone else (decisions 33, 92). By Mar 31, 2028, 2 are Select.
- Slack Connect closes Mar 31, 2027, with 30 days' notice, and they move to the community workspace unless they reach Premier (decision 84)
Oct 1, 2027: Technology, resellers and marketplace
The second half of Year 1 opens three motions at once: ISVs that embed and integrate (including ERP and CRM connectors), resellers, and co-sell through the AWS, GCP and Azure marketplaces (decisions 13, 15). The Jul 1 review confirms each one is ready (decision 97):
| Motion | Ready means |
|---|---|
| Technology path | ISV embed terms and integration docs published |
| Marketplace co-sell | Listings live on AWS, GCP and Azure; partner of record paid at 5% (decision 72) |
| All three | The partner solutions architect is under the 12-deal cap (decision 99), and every guard metric is green (decision 100) |
One that isn't ready waits; the others open. An ISV with a deal in hand can join early by exception: Valeshore Software joined on Sep 18.
By Mar 31, 2028: 149 ISV and technology partners joined, 96 resellers joined, and 39 marketplace deals were won.
How resellers are paid. Under the rules every partner already has: the tier's commission when they source a deal, and 5% as partner of record on a marketplace deal (decision 72). A dedicated reseller discount is a Year-2 decision, made with the first six months of reseller data (decision 100).
The ramp
| Quarter end | Partners signed | Partners activated | Customers live through partners |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 31, 2027 (beta) | 29 | 4 | 7 |
| Jun 30, 2027 | 187 | 17 | 26 |
| Sep 30, 2027 | 386 | 65 | 106 |
| Dec 31, 2027 | 666 | 143 | 239 |
| Mar 31, 2028 | 997 | 264 | 445 |
Signing climbs from about 45 a month at launch to over 100 a month by the end of the year, on a team that stays at 9 people (decision 66). The north star passes its target of 400 (decision 65). The 90-day activation rate climbs from about 20% in the first cohorts to 40% by the latest cohorts, which is why it's an exit rate, not a flat one (decision 90).
Guard metrics
Each new motion lands on the same 9-person team. Two guard metrics protect the Services motion that's already running. The head of partner ecosystem checks them monthly. If one is red for a full calendar month, the next opening pauses until it's been green for a full month (decision 100).
| Guard | Green | Year-1 result |
|---|---|---|
| Median days from terms to onboarded | 30 or fewer (decision 40) | 12 to 18 days every month |
| Deal registrations answered within 2 business days | 90% or more (decision 79) | 92% for the year; 92% to 99% every month until March 2028 (75%) |
What the red means. The guards stayed green through launch and the Oct 1 openings, so nothing paused. March 2028 ends the year with 41 registrations past their 2-day answer, as volume passed 200 a month. That holds the next expansion until it's fixed, and it's the queue build 4's deal registration triage is built to clear.
Partner solutions architect capacity
One partner solutions architect works the Enterprise deals that carry an implementation package. They lead up to 12 open package deals at once, largest first. Above 12, the partner's own Level 2 technical person leads delivery, and the partner solutions architect reviews it at go-live (decision 99). Level 2 already proves the person has delivered (decision 53), so the rule moves work to partners who have earned it, without adding headcount (decision 66).
| Month start | Dec 2027 | Jan 2028 | Feb 2028 | Mar 2028 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Open package deals | 7 | 13 | 21 | 28 |
From January, the open deals pass 12, and partner Level 2 people lead the rest. ISV and technology onboarding stays automated, with 4 integration reviews a month held for the ISVs with the largest pipeline.
The package budget across the year
| Amount | |
|---|---|
| Beta budget | $100,000 |
| Approved in the beta | $19,250 (8 packages) |
| Carried into Year 1 | $80,750 |
| Added at the Jan 1, 2028 review | $50,000 |
| Year-1 budget | $130,750 |
| Approved in Year 1 | $117,250 (50 packages), 90% of the budget |
Approvals grew each quarter, from $1,750 in the first quarter after launch to $77,000 in the last, as Enterprise deals and the new motions arrived. At that pace the carry-over runs out around February 2028, so the Jan 1 review adds $50,000 after seeing the fall's pace (decision 96).
The partner advisory board
8 to 12 partners across the four segments meet before each program review, with a standing feedback channel in the Slack community (decision 59).
- Seeded by design partners. They hold the first seats (decision 98), covering Builder, Specialist and Scale.
- First meeting: June 2027, before the Jul 1 review. The first Anchor partners, who joined that month, fill the fourth segment.
- What it shapes. The board reviews what the program review is about to decide: the Oct 1 openings, the numbers still to be set at Jul 1 (SPIFFs, contribution points), and the mid-year adjustment window (decision 58).
Why this saves time and money
A fixed date with a check means partners, sales and the flat team plan around one day, and nobody pours partners into a motion that doesn't work yet. Opening Technology, resellers and marketplace together in October gives the team one ramp to absorb in the second half, not three, and the guard metrics stop the next opening if that ramp starts to hurt the partners already here. The package budget follows real Enterprise deals instead of a spending schedule, so Cloud Cruz pays for delivered work, never for a calendar.