The VAR Guy

Okay, so I just dated myself with that title. Worse yet, now I have that stupid song stuck in my head. But I digress. It used to be the case that some products were just too sexy for the business space — they were seen as consumer-focused, and therefore, not ideal for the typical solution provider to sell. You know the vendors: Apple, Logitech, Google. As consumers, you want them because they have tuned functionality and intuitive design. Plus, let’s face it, you just feel a whole lot cooler using them. Yet the channel traditionally hasn’t led with them or kept them top of mind. It made me stop and think: What makes a product sexy for the channel?

I’m eating my words. Anyone who knows me knows I don’t do that often. So here goes: Back in my global channel professional days I worked for EqualLogic. I was one of those channel folks who ate, slept and breathed the channel (still am). So when I got the news in 2008 that Dell (one of the less channel-friendly companies) was buying EqualLogic I couldn’t get my resume updated quickly enough. “They just don’t get it and they never will,” are the words I’m about to eat, just in case you were wondering.

Trust is obviously important in business. I would take idea that one step further and say trust is more important in the channel.

Attention technology vendors: When you correspond with your channel partners, are you inundating them with too much information? If you have a robust channel program with many different departments all working together there’s a possibility that your partners can get as many as five communications from your company per week. Multiply that by the other vendors they sell, and it’s amazing partners listen to you at all. This is why it’s so important that vendors communicate internally to schedule partner communications so partners don’t get bombarded.

Are you thinking about expanding your channel program into Eastern Europe? Are you stumped because you don’t have channel partners currently in the area or even a channel team who speaks the language? When I think of all these potential pitfalls of channel expansion to the area, I often think of the 1985 slapstick comedy “National Lampoon’s European Vacation.” If you’ve never seen the movie, Chevy Chase plays the always optimistic but ultimately accident-prone patriarch of the Griswold family who, after winning a European vacation on a game show, sets out a curious set of misadventures with his family in tow…

While I’m really excited to see companies incorporating social media into their channel I see a couple vendors hiring recent college grads and expecting them to take on the “Social Media Strategy.” Gen Yers, also known as Millennials, are bringing some amazing things to the work place with their tactical use of social media. However, I have a few questions about the mind set here…

Most technology companies offer co-marketing, co-branding and MDF programs to help channel partners jointly market a product and services value proposition. But if you’re a technology vendor, there is a fundamental shift in the types of marketing resources your partners need. It involves social media. Here’s the problem — and some recommendations.

With three quarters of the world’s IT products and services being sold through the channel ,many companies are shifting from a direct only model to pushing more business through their partners.  Anyone who has been through this knows it’s not an easy transition. The most important thing is to keep partner interests top of mind. A case in point: Check out ongoing moves by Peer 1 Hosting, a hosting provider with 17 data centers in the US, Canada, and Europe. Here are the details.

Having worked at several enterprise companies and a 60 person start-up I’ve had plenty of experience with CRM systems. I wouldn’t say any of them have been particularly bad experiences but none have been off the charts fantastic either.  It’s become a necessary evil that if we want to track not just our customers and prospects but activities of those who are not yet in our funnel we need some sort of CRM system.

As a channel and marketing professional I’ve worked with a bunch of different software tools for (1) marketing automation or (2) content syndication OR (3) social media monitoring.  But I’ve never seen a single tool that does all three things really well. Until now. Here’s the story.

As Channel Professionals we have a lot of responsibility.  It seems as if the work will never been done and partners will never have everything they need.  For that reason, we tend to fall into a way of doing things that can be detrimental to our channel program and more importantly, our partners. Here’s how to break free from your current routine.

Has anyone formed a Channel Support Group yet?  We all know that The Channel has always been seen as secondary to corporate activities and marketing. The Channel gets less budget for marketing activities or has to re-purpose the corporate marketing content that was not exactly partner friendly or has to defend their partners against channel conflict with the direct sales team.  It is a huge struggle and one that we, as channel professionals, take in stride. But is a shift starting?

I was involved in a  recent survey of 200 VAR’s and systems integrators — and the results showed less than stellar usage of Social Media platforms. Under 60% use LinkedIn and approximately 38% are using Twitter. Okay, not horrible…but how many of them are using it correctly?

Those of us who have worked for large companies know that “branding” comes with a 462 page document called The Branding Guidelines.  If you read the document cover to cover you would find out how much space needs to be open around a logo in a document or presentation, how the company’s name can and cannot be written, and how each and every product needs to be referenced. But can branding guidelines help small VARs? You bet. Here are four quick tips…

September was a whirlwind for me: several exciting client projects, bride’s maid (or matron, a term which I hate) in my friend’s wedding, moving my house, and several trips. All good things but just the same, when you’re wrapped up in what’s currently going on, you are not focused on building that pipeline or nurturing relationships or innovating around your current programs. I find the same is true with some channel organizations. How do you keep innovating when you’re busy maintaining your current programs? Here are six suggestions.

Sure, the Federal Reserve Chairman recently said the recession is likely over.  But is the channel feeling the rebound?  How has the recession impacted channel hiring? Here are some clues from Cisco Systems.

We all know the BCG matrix with Cash Cow, Dogs, Stars, and Problem Children — but how does that play out in reality?  How should vendors cater their partner programs to each of these product groups?

When I first used Vista I was, well, beyond frustrated.  Not being a technical person myself the only person more frustrated then me was my IT guy.  “Steve, it’s doing the thing again!” “Steve I lost the file I was just working on!” “Steve why can’t I find anything?”  You get the idea. The big question: Will VARs give Microsoft and Windows 7 a fresh look on August 16? Here’s the scoop.

Many of my posts have some information on how to design a program to attract a certain type of partner, but to truly differentiate your program you need to start with the end in mind. Don’t jump into creating a differentiated program without first deciding a) your target market, b) the type of partner you want to recruit to reach that target, and c) what that partner would want or expect out of a partner program.

When asked recently what’s the hottest topic in IT impacting the channel I didn’t have to think twice…the Cloud.  I wrote ‘What Does Cloud Computing mean for the Channel?’ a couple of months ago — talking about the ability for just about anyone to write an application in the cloud and market it.  Google, Force.com, and Amazon have made that a reality.  And the Cloud will certainly generate buzz at Microsoft’s Worldwide Partner Conference 2009 (WPC09). Now, for the big question facing VARs.

Somehow in the last few years the term “Reseller” has become an insult.  It’s not enough anymore to just sell a product, now to be a true Value Added Reseller (VAR) partners must provide services.  None of this is news but many partners are promoting themselves as a VAR when they may still be just a, dare I say it, Reseller.

Last week I covered channel recruitment from a vendor’s perspective. Now let’s  look at it from a partner’s perspective. While the vendors are looking to recruit new partners, the partners are analyzing the cost/benefit of taking on a new vendor’s product. There are more considerations than one would think.

When a vendor channel is in the early stages of development, their requirements for channel partners are usually only that they have a pulse. Fast forward 12 to 18 months, and a fledgling channel program involves 5% of partners who are actively engaged and 95% who sold once on a customer’s request and then disengaged. So what’s the fix?