VARs Race To The Midmarket

The fight for the "M" in SMB has been brewing for a long time, but has gained momentum in the past year as major vendors realize they don't have the resources, cost structure or customer relationships to tackle the burgeoning midmarket. As a result, solution providers determined to grow their business in an uncertain economy are adjusting their business models to better cultivate relationships with midsize businesses.

"[Manufacturers] generally view the midmarket as channel led, which offers them the benefit of expanding their coverage model while lowering their selling costs," said Mark Melillo, president and CEO of Melillo Consulting, a Somerset, N.J.-based solution provider that has traditionally focused on enterprise accounts. "It is a bit of a perfect storm in that it is not competitive with the manufacturers, the volume of accounts is significant and there are strong financial incentives available to the channel partners [from the vendors]."

Melillo Consulting, with annual revenue of about $75 million, recently signed up as a partner with open source network software vendor GroundWork Open Source Inc., San Francisco, as a way to extend its reach into midmarket accounts. Melillo, which derives about 65 percent of its revenue from selling Hewlett-Packard products and related services, needed a lower-cost, less robust alternative to augment HP's network management software, said Jeff Gibson, Melillo Consulting's vice president and general manager of enterprise management and security.

"HP is by far our biggest partner and this is no way a slam against HP," said Gibson, who noted that his HP software business this year is expected to grow by more than 40 percent. "It's simply our way of extending our market reach to areas HP software can't play [in] for whatever reasons, whether they are too big, too robust, too complex or not cost-effective."

To date, GroundWork has opened up new opportunities for Melillo in education and health-care accounts and currently he has several new deals in the works. Gibson said his strategy is to use open-source software such as GroundWork to get into new accounts and then add higher functionality as needed. "[With GroundWork], we have a low entry point. It doesn't necessarily compete against HP because it's business we weren't going to necessarily win anyway."

Melillo believes his company's enterprise heritage gives it a distinct advantage in the midmarket. "Our enterprise expertise allows us to provide more robust and effective solutions scaled to customers' needs," he said. "We have a definite advantage over those moving up the value chain in situations where experience and knowledge are important to the project."

While Melillo Consulting is moving downstream to capture a greater share of the midmarket, Heartland Technologies is stepping up from the small-business space to go after midsize companies. The Harlan, Iowa-based solution provider has traditionally focused on small business, but company CEO Arlin Sorensen said Heartland is expanding into Omaha, Neb., Wichita, Kan., and Des Moines, Iowa. To go after the lucrative midsize businesses in those markets, Sorensen said Heartland would likely acquire other solution providers with midmarket skills.

"We moved into Omaha and thought that we could grow that area by organic growth but it's been a slow and painful process," he said. "Our heritage has been totally in the small space. What we are learning is that it requires us to change a whole bunch of things if we are really to be effective."

Next: Cracking The Midmarket Sorensen said he's determined to crack the midmarket because of the higher returns compared to small businesses. He points out that because of the greater complexity of the business and the resulting demands for more sophisticated IT infrastructure, Heartland can engage more deeply with midmarket customers and thus realize greater returns. And he notes that rising fuel costs even play into his decision.

"With the cost of people and cost of fuel, moving people from location to location is a losing proposition," he said.

Vendors, too, are putting more money behind solution providers willing to pick up the midmarket mantel.

Hewlett-Packard this year vowed to up its midmarket channel funding.

"Channel investments are key," said Adrian Jones, HP's vice president and general manager, Americas Solution Partner Organization. "Last year, we paid over $350 million in PartnerOne rebates, and we plan to do more in 2008."

Jones noted that HP's SPO increased its staff by 10 percent last year to better support partners.

"The SMB market in 2008 is a $72 billion opportunity and we need [partners'] help to reach all of the buying points in the market," he said.

Jones added that storage would be a top priority for HP in 2008, with a dramatic increase in partner incentives and new product rollouts as key parts of the plan. "Storage is a top priority for us and we want to grow that to be No. 1 in the market," he said. "Our investments in storage this year will be unprecedented." He noted that HP increased its solution-provider incentives for storage sales by 38 percent in 2007 and will double that in 2008.

Don Richie, CEO of Sequel Data Systems Inc., an exclusive HP partner in Austin, Texas, said his HP storage business was down last year but that the additional investments in the business should help. "HP's new EVA 4400 is a great product for the midmarket and even the low end," he said.

Armonk, N.Y.-based IBM Corp., too, is making a $100 million investment in the midmarket this year, and channel partners stand to gain much of the benefit.

Rich Michos, vice president of worldwide business partner strategy for IBM, said this year the vendor would be investing $100 million in marketing, all in an effort to drive leads in the midmarket. "With some assistance from IBM.com, we're going to satisfy our midmarket objective almost uniquely through business partners," Michos said. "That's a profound shift."

Michos said solution providers that think IBM is too big or too difficult to work with should give the vendor a second look.

"If you're not working with us, now's the best time," Michos said.

Solution providers said they have recently seen IBM increasing its channel focus.

"In the past year or so, I've seen IBM really stepping up to engage partners," said Ryan Yu, president of Daly Computers Inc., an IBM solution provider in Clarksburg, Md.

Michos said several efforts are under way to help partners sell IBM into the midmarket. For example, the vendor's new Lead Pass Decision Engine is a lead development tool that aims to provide better leads to a larger number of IBM partners, he said.

Michos also pointed to IBM's BladeCenter S, where the "S" stands for SMB.

Heartland Technology's Sorensen added that it's important for solution providers to increase their midmarket presence if they hope to incorporate such hot technologies.

"You can't sell blades into a 10-user environment," he said.

—Jennifer Hagendorf Follett contributed to this report.

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Vendor offerings that concentrate on the channel's success in the midmarket