The next twist on from self-profiling is build a locator, a search mechanism allowing end-users to identify which of your partners offers the solution they need. McKenzie at BMC says this works well for Oracle.

"Solutionsmarketplace.oracle.com is a great way to find the solution which is specific to your needs and your industry. It is very well-used indeed."

However, setting up such systems brings its own trials and tribulations. For instance, many suppliers' products and partners are undifferentiated. Partners are very jealous of any indication that a vendor is pushing other partners solutions. Turf wars are a real danger. Dunn at Sybase says: "You also risk introducing all your partners' customers to their competitors!"

But Wallace-Jones maintains that many people have yet to wake up to the power of locators. And he argues that, for such systems to work, companies have to provide end-users with a series of prompts to help them define what they are looking for.

Whilst Oracle has decided to plum for a massive new partner site, many suppliers have actually cut back.

Harris at Filemaker says its national end-user sites across Europe dropped from an average of 900 pages to just 300 pages this spring. One vendor said they had effectively scaled back their PRM site in the same way. 'We found that most partners wanted very simple information on prices and products. So we have built a kind of bubble site with this data on top of our main partner site.'

Dunn argues: "It is easy to be swept away and go for complexity. You really have to keep it simple, stupid."

Forrester at BMW reckons that what dealers need, above all else, is quick access to information. BMW's latest initiative is a content management system which will enable dealers to ask on a daily basis "what is new on the site." "We want them to be able to dash in, see what is new and quit."

This all begs the question of what motivates companies to create some of these sites in the first place.

"You have to look for specific things you can automate successfully."

One manager said: "Frankly, we created a complex partner website mainly because senior managers inside our company wanted to see one. So a lot of it was internal public relations."

But Wallace-Jones argues that PRM can and does show returns on investment. "When you design these systems you have to ask yourself how is this going to reduce our costs? How is this going to increase our sales? You have to look for specific things you can automate successfully."

Our Analysis:

1) There have been plenty of expensive past failures. Often this was because companies ignored the golden rule - ask your partners what they want first. Above all, partners want to get to information as fast as possible.

2) In our winter issue we showed how the web worked best when suppliers used it to automate existing business processes. It is when you launch completely new business processes over the web that things start to go badly wrong. PRM is a perfect example of this. Why send artwork through the mail when you can send it online? Why not have a system which systematically logs all leads referred to partners? Perhaps suppliers should spend more time working out which components should be automated and less getting carried away with an all-embracing web vision.

3) Technology doesn't stand still. The ability to personalize your partner portal, to make the information, job and partner relevant, is impressive. PRM will become critical to success.

4) We think that a lot of the failures were one-off systems developed internally. A PRM vendor can provide modular solutions which have a proven track-record. They can get such systems running in weeks or months, not years.

Via has published a detailed white paper on PRM systems, which is available on 020 75 85 33 99 or at viaint.com