CSI: Channel

Borrowing a term coined by Bill Botti, president and COO of Alternative Technology, a specialty distributor in Englewood, Colo., solution providers need to model their forensics efforts after the popular "CSI: Las Vegas" and "CSI: Miami" television shows. But instead of investigating crime scenes, solution providers need to do more computer science investigation, or, in other words, they should create their own CSI program.

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MICHAEL VIZARD

Can be reached at (516) 562-7477 or via e-mail at [email protected].

Unfortunately, most solution providers fail to look up- and downstream from the solution they just installed at the customer site. That's understandable, because many of them are eager to complete the project so they can move on to the next customer. These solution providers, however, are missing out on a chance to look around the rest of the customer's site to see what opportunities are at hand.

As we all know, getting additional business from an existing customer is always more profitable than trying to serve a new customer. So solution providers need to dig deep to really understand all the immediate and potential needs of the customer.

Interestingly, this is one place where a vendor's direct-sales force can help. Siemens, for example, has trained its networking salespeople to do a forensic analysis on a customer's site to drive deeper penetration of its products and more business for solution providers. This is also an area where distributors can add value by training solution providers on how to do a professional audit of a customer's IT assets.

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After three-plus years of a downturn, IT audits have become something of a lost art. And while the economy is improving, customers are not rushing to buy new IT equipment just because it's high time they should. Instead, they need a compelling analysis of the business impact of implementing a solution.

And the only way to begin that process is for solution providers to start thinking more like forensics experts and pay less attention to the deal of the moment.

What's your forensics strategy? I can be reached at (516) 562-7477 or via e-mail at [email protected].