The White-Box Brand

Indisputably, systems other than those sold by the biggest brand-name PC vendors are a major force. They are, in aggregate, the market leaders in SMB accounts, according to CRN research. In the latest monthly CRN Solution Provider Survey, there was a sharp increase in the percentage of solution providers citing white boxes as their best-selling desktop, notebook and PC servers in June compared with May. Seventeen percent of solution providers surveyed, for example, cited white-box notebooks as their best-selling notebook system, up from 7 percent in May.

But the truth is that the term white box is a misnomer. The reality behind the numbers is that every one of those white-box systems sold carried the brand that small-business customers have learned to trust the most: the solution provider who stands behind the system.

Major PC vendors claim their research confirms this, and that's why they attempt to come up with channel strategies to enlist solution providers as their point people in SMB accounts. But after years and years of talking a good game, most vendors still don't get it.

Hewlett-Packard's recent decision to deauthorize thousands of solution providers from its Authorized Support Provider Program for HP Pavilion and Presario systems is an example. Many of these solution providers performed only 40 or 50 warranty claims annually, but they provided human contact to thousands of HP customers. By breaking that link, HP will lose the opportunity to build new long-term relationships.

IBM, on the other hand, has made SMB its mantra this year. For its second quarter ended June 30, IBM said its SMB business was up 17 percent over the year-earlier quarter. Sure, IBM's definition of an SMB account is one with 1,000 or fewer employees, but IBM is actively recruiting solution providers to cultivate this segment,turning over SMB customer lists and offering financial incentives for winning new accounts.

IBM realizes by its actions that the most sought-after brand in SMB accounts is the solution provider. And the best way to sell the IBM brand in SMB accounts is to forge a symbiotic relationship with solution providers.

CRAIG ZARLEY is Industry Editor at CRN. He can be reached via e-mail at [email protected]. Editor in Chief MICHAEL VIZARD returns next week.