IBM's Channel Charge

IBM, in fact, staged its own version of "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King," walking away with a record-setting eight individual trophies. The trouncing marked the first time in the history of the awards that a vendor has won as many as eight individual awards. IBM's stunning performance featured wins in notebooks, 32-bit servers, 64-bit servers, databases, application development tools, application integration tools, systems and network management, and storage backup devices.

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STEVEN BURKE

Can be reached at (781) 8391221 or via e-mail at [email protected].

IBM's triumph represents a remarkable accomplishment. With a lot of hard work, the company has been transformed from a stodgy, slow-moving, second-rate product maker into a services and software powerhouse, backed by an unprecedented channel commitment in the midsize-business marketplace. The amazing thing about IBM is the breadth, range and strength of the products in its stable right now. But products without channel commitment don't mean diddly.

The channel leadership at IBM is top of class,from IBM CEO Sam Palmisano to Vice President of Distribution Channels Management Frank Vitagliano. Even IBM Global Services is getting channel religion with some strong leadership from IGS Vice President of Channel Services John Pratt. One sign of IBM's services leadership is the continuing progress of IGS' partnership with Ingram Micro's VentureTech Network.

Analysts International, a solution provider in Minneapolis, recently walked away with the first deal under the IGS-Ingram Micro alliance. Pratt, by the way, has predicted that more than $40 million worth of business could come from the IGS-Ingram Micro partnership this year.

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For those who fear IBM is resting on its laurels, think again. CRN Industry Editor Craig Zarley reports on the formal rollout of IBM's new PartnerWorld program, which rolls four separate partner programs into a single, powerful offering (see story on page 10). That new program is sure to get more partners to leverage the full breadth of IBM's product line. IBM is speeding forward and turning up the channel heat on competitors in a wide range of markets. What it all means is that IBM competitors who stay pat should be prepared to eat more dust.

Who do you think of IBM's channel charge? Let me know at (781) 839-1221 or via e-mail at [email protected].