Affiliates: What's appropriate notice when a sponsor changes affiliate processing?

[gaybucks_chip]

This topic was mentioned briefly on another board in relation to what happens when a sponsor buys an affiliate program from another program, and changes in the backend platform (changing between NATS, MPA, CCBill, whatever)

What steps would you want to see a sponsor take when they are changing or converting their backend affiliate processing from one platform to another?

I would think that the following would be a minimum, but I'm interested in what others have to say

- supporting the old platform for at least 60-90 days after cutover to new platform

- Create translation scripts if at all humanly possible to allow links from old platform to seamlessly credit affiliates on new platform.

- Provide notice to affiliates in advance of making new platform available (and obviously well before discontinuing old platform)

- Provide reconciliation of sales and funds on old platform at termination of traffic to old platform, or roll data into new platform


What have I missed? For those who have been through it, what can a sponsor do to make it most painless for affiliates?

[abostonboy]

What have I missed? For those who have been through it, what can a sponsor do to make it most painless for affiliates?

Do just that. Make it painless. Seriously. Has anyone ever gone in a blog and changed affiliate links? Takes a lot of time.

[djdez]

well if you're going from mpa to nats, nats to mpa, ccbill to mpa, cbill to nats... basically anythin from to NATS or MPA... they will make those translation scripts for you, in fact its part of their migration process. Very painless.