Google will launch on Wednesday a reseller program for the paid version of its Apps hosted collaboration and communication suite. This is a premiere, and that's because the program will allow third parties to resell Apps Premier, which costs $50 per user per year. As for the resellers, they can be VARs, system integrators, consultants, IT service providers, software vendors or ISPs of any size anywhere in the world.

In order to attract the attention of large organizations, Google has beefed up the Premier edition in a variety of ways. The company will offer Apps Premier licenses at a 20 percent discount to resellers. Furthermore, it provides training, support and tools for sales and marketing. Resellers will be able to bundle their own complementary IT services with the sale of the suite to generate additional revenue, and they will manage the billing process for Apps Premier, not Google.

Companies that are interested in applying to the program can find out more information about the requirements online, as Google will begin giving partners the green light to resell Apps Premier towards the end of March. Recent data shows that about 50 partners have been participating in the reseller program's pilot phase.

Google has an Enterprise Partners program, for third-parties, that offers services for Google enterprise products. In addition, the company also has a Solutions Marketplace of products that extend the functionality of Google enterprise products. Apps is in use at more than 1 million businesses by more than 10 million end users. Large organizations that use Apps Premier include Genentech, Telegraph Media Group and the Washington D.C. government.