cyborgWhat are the basics and what is being offered, there are many offering various applications and packages. What should i be looking for and who are the key players out there?
The basics are being able to provide a mechanism for your affiliates to have players sign up for new accounts under their details. This is very simple in terms of the programming element. Then you need to have a method to track wins/losses of each player and mark that back to the affiliate, so that the affiliate gets their bonuses based on the performance of each player they have brought in. Affiliates will require some interface to see how their players are doing, 'top earners', and all that. The provider will also want to see who are their 'top affiliates', not only in terms of revenue generation but also player volumes brought in. Reporting is always a biggie for the management droids.
IMO, when it comes choosing an affiliate package, the same considerations should be borne in mind as to selecting any other software product:
1. Am I walking into a vendor lock-in?
2. Are there going to be additional costs beyond the software package?
3. Can I easily access my data, should I wish to move to another platform?
4. Can I be sure the software is doing no more than what it says on the box?
As for which software to recommend...I have my own preference on this side of things (Linux, PHP, MySQL, OSS, etc), but the landscape is constantly changing. Buy me a large G&T (Bombay Sapphire, wedge of lime, proper Indian tonic water) at Club 22 this evening and I'll share some thoughts on this.
HTH.
Iain.