Casting A Wide Net

A channel strategy requires constant investment and churn to attract the newest and brightest stars. The "I only need 100 VARs" approach is shortsighted for several reasons.

First, channel turnover can be as high as 30 percent annually. As in any industry, companies go out of business. New businesses are formed by the former employees of those defunct companies. Consultants, for instance, leave the Big 5 and start their own solution provider businesses, At the same time, there is a natural ebb and flow of acquisitions and consolidation in the market with vendors acquiring solution providers and VARs buying other VARs for their expertise.

Meanwhile, the channel is more fragmented now than it has ever been. These days you've got SMB VARs, systems builders, enterprise VARs, consultants/ISVs, service providers, XSPs and influencers, all of whom fall under the solution provider umbrella. And they all address a different slice of the market.

Next: Let's not assume that if a vendor has 100 solution providers those partners will be recommending only that vendor's product. Solution providers recommend a variety of vendor products and quite often implement multivendor solutions to meet their customers' needs. They switch allegiances based on channel policy, product availability, the vendor's direct-sales efforts and a host of other factors.

Also, remember that solution providers partner with other solution providers. Focusing on a few is only brushing the surface of channel influence. A perfect example is CRN's Best In Show winner, honored at Computer Associates' CA World last week (see page 22). The customer, St. Mary's Hospital, was unhappy with its Veritas implementation, so a small solution provider named Automated Office Solutions brought enterprise storage expert Broadwing into the deal followed by Trilliant and its implementation services.

If a vendor thinks they can get into deals such as this with 100 solution providers,even those with specialized expertise,they are mistaken. Casting a wide net is the way to go.

Do you agree? I can be reached at (781) 839-1272 or via e-mail at [email protected].