Marking a shift from the direct sale of its products to customers, Google is set to launch an official reseller program for the paid version of Google Apps Premier Edition. A SaaS office productivity suite platform, the Apps Premier includes features like word processing, spreadsheets, presentations, email and chat, as well as security and compliance.

Along with a 20 percent discount, the program will offer resellers - including IT service providers, system integrators, VARs, software vendors, consultants, and ISPs - the ability to receive recurring revenue on specific Google products. In addition, Google will provide full support, training, and tools for sales and marketing.

According to the terms of the proposed partnership, resellers will get $10 per year on a $50 per-user, per-year subscription fee. The partners, having to pay each one-year subscription to Google in advance, will maintain the billing relationship with the customers.

Even though Google's free Standard edition is already in use by a number of Apps customers who are either individuals or small businesses, the Premier has been upgraded considerably with the aim of catching the attention of the big organizations.

In fact, the SaaS products are part of the latest 'cloud computing' trend, which also includes the provision of IT infrastructure services, like storage and server capacity, by way of the Internet.

Google Apps' senior product manager, Rishi Chandra, said: "Many partners have been coming to us and telling us they see the cloud computing momentum, and that they want to get involved."