Partner administration
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The partner program lets an agency run dembrane on behalf of external clients. It’s self-serve for the partner once their organisation is marked as a partner - but that mark, and a few commercial and operational levers around it, only staff can pull: the partner toggle, the referral ledger, the external-led-orgs signal, and workspace handoff.
It’s staff work; handoff additionally needs extra staff permission. Partners can’t toggle any of this themselves - that’s the point of staff-gating it.
The partner toggle#
Every organisation has a partner flag, off by default. Turning it on is the single gate that opens the partner program for that organisation.
On, it lets that organisation’s workspace admins create external-client workspaces - which carry their own billing account, name a data owner, allow free observers, and support white labelling. Internal work is unchanged; the toggle only adds the partner capability.
Important
Only flip the partner flag on once a partner agreement is in place. It changes how the organisation can bill and hand off other people's data. Confirm with whoever owns the partner relationship first.
The customer-facing view of what this unlocks is on the partner program page; route partner hosts there when they ask “what can I now do?”.
The referral ledger#
Partners bring clients, often with agreed commercial terms. The referral ledger is where those terms live. Each entry records:
- Kickback % - what the partner earns on a referred client.
- Discount % - any discount the referred client gets.
- EUR cap - a ceiling in euros on the arrangement.
- Expiry - when the deal lapses.
It’s staff-maintained; partners don’t edit it. Read it to reconcile what a partner is owed, check a referred client’s discount, and see when an arrangement ends.
Note
The ledger is the mechanism; the deals are agreed with the partner by whoever owns the commercial relationship. If a number looks wrong, check the agreement before editing.
External-led orgs - the conversion signal#
The external-led orgs list surfaces organisations that look like they’re being led from outside the partner - a partner’s external client that has started behaving like an independent account.
When a client a partner brought in starts driving their own usage, inviting their own people, and acting like an owner rather than an observer, they’re a candidate to convert to their own direct dembrane account. Read the list as a pipeline of clients ready to graduate from partner-hosted to independent.
Tip
Pair it with the referral ledger: a client showing up as external-led, with a referral arrangement near its cap or expiry, is a clear prompt for a “ready to take this over yourself?” conversation - and to settle the partner’s kickback.
Workspace transfer and handoff#
When an engagement ends, a partner often hands the workspace to the client so the client owns it as an independent organisation, billed directly. That transfer is handoff, which needs extra staff permission - so staff usually perform or assist it.
Handoff changes who owns and pays for a workspace, so:
- Confirm timing with both the partner and the client before transferring.
- Make sure the client side is ready - they become the owners, billed directly.
- After handoff, the partner organisation no longer administers the workspace.
The same machinery covers project moves and bulk moves between workspaces; the customer-facing detail is on the partner program page.
Warning
Handoff is not easily undone - once a workspace is transferred, the partner loses administrative access. Treat it as a one-way door and line everything up first.
Related#
- The partner program - the full customer-facing picture of what the toggle unlocks.
- Roles & permissions - the observer and external roles partners use.
- Usage & billing rollup - where external-client billing accounts show up.
- The admin panel - the partner toggle as a kebab action.
- Discounts, trials & tiers - discounts you might apply alongside a referral deal.
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