KickOff & Strategy Alignment

The KickOff phase transitions the partnership from initial qualification into concrete strategy execution. In this step, both teams align on the business model, compute resources, go-to-market approach, and support programs to ensure a viable, scalable product release on the STACKIT Marketplace.

Objectives & Key Stakeholders

The primary goal of the KickOff meeting is to validate mutual financial and technical feasibility before signing formal contracts.

• STACKIT roles: Partner Manager, Partner Solution Architect
• ISV roles: Business Lead / Product Manager, Lead Architect / CTO

Business Case Inputs Required from the ISV

To construct a realistic business case and define the resource baseline, the ISV provides key parameters regarding product architecture and commercial goals:

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Category	Required information	Purpose
Pricing & Licensing Model	SaaS subscription, usage-based, BYOL (Bring Your Own License), or tiered pricing.	Defines transaction handling on the STACKIT Marketplace.
Resource Footprint	Estimated average and peak compute (vCPU, RAM), storage (NVMe/S3), network bandwidth, and managed services (e.g., STACKIT Postgres/Kubernetes).	Calculates estimated STACKIT infrastructure costs and margin models.
Target Audience & Verticals	Specific industries (e.g., public sector, healthcare, finance) or enterprise segments.	Aligns GTM campaigns and compliance/certification requirements.
Sales & Revenue Expectations	Projected onboarding pipeline and expected customer sign-ups over 12–24 months.	Validates business viability and eligibility for STACKIT funding programs.

Why this comes before the contract

The commercial parameters agreed here — pricing model, billable unit, target verticals — are the same ones that are operationalized much later as billing SKUs during Placement. Changing them after SKUs exist is expensive.

Partnering & Go-to-Market Models

During the KickOff, both parties agree on the structure of the joint go-to-market approach:

1. Co-Selling & Referral

• Joint sales activity where STACKIT field sales recommend the ISV solution to existing enterprise accounts.
• Lead sharing and commission/referral structures agreed upon per transaction type.

2. Marketplace Resell

• STACKIT acts as the merchant of record (or facilitator) on the Marketplace.
• Billing and metering are fully integrated and automated via STACKIT.

Available Funding & Support Incentives

STACKIT supports qualifying ISVs during the onboarding journey to reduce initial development risks:

• PoC Infrastructure Credits: Cloud credits provided to cover STACKIT infrastructure costs during development, testing, and Technical Quality Gates.
• Architectural Support: Direct access to STACKIT Solution Architects for review of cloud-native design, Kubernetes deployment, and security compliance.
• Co-Marketing Support: Joint PR, blog posts, and featured placement opportunities on the STACKIT Marketplace upon launch.

Phase Completion Criteria

At the end of the KickOff, clear ownership is assigned for the immediate next phase:

• ISV task: Business case inputs finalized and the completed onboarding questionnaire returned.
• STACKIT task: Tailored Partnership Agreement drafted and the Signing phase prepared.
• Joint task: Technical PoC alignment call scheduled following contract execution.
• Milestone achieved: Business case validated — ready to proceed to Signing & Legal Alignment.

Support & Contact

For questions on the business case, funding programs, or go-to-market models, contact your dedicated STACKIT Partner Manager or the ISV Factory team at isv-sales@digits.schwarz.