Channel Advocacy Is Good For Business

As I hope you've read in our online news section, CRN had an opportunity late last month to speak with Xerox Chairman and CEO Anne Mulcahy, who makes it her regular business to engage with the company's growing corps of VARs and solution providers. You won't find her skipping Xerox's annual partner conference, unlike other CEOs who simply can't seem to make such a thing a priority.

HEATHER CLANCY Can be reached via e-mail at hclancy@cmp.com.

Much of Mulcahy's interest in the channel, of course, is linked to reaching that holy grail of all high-tech CEOs, the small- or midsize-business customer. The channel is, quite simply, the most direct path to the SMB market. Pun intended.

Given the natural conflict that has arisen as Xerox has engaged with the VARs from the data world (as opposed to the copier universe), the cynical among you might insist Mulcahy's public interest is superficial, something that makes for good ink. But I find her interest refreshing, very much real and very much self-interested.

Indeed, Mulcahy has been smart enough to realize that the most effective channel programs are defined and supported from the very tippy-top of an organization. The more she supports her channel organization, the better it will perform and the better her company's chances will be in the aforementioned elusive SMB market. Which is why you'll notice Xerox has chosen to appoint the president of its Americas division, Jim Firestone, as its Channel Chief representative in this week's CRN Perspectives report.

Mulcahy has figured out something few high-tech CEOs don't seem to understand, or choose to ignore: A Channel Chief is defined not by what he or she tells their company's channel partners, although being in front of them often is an awfully good strategy, but by the actions of the executives and employees that stand behind him or her. Unless partnering is embedded in the DNA of a company's culture, its representatives will be ill-equipped to make the right decisions when the options aren't exactly black and white.

We seem to be in a cycle where more high-tech CEOs "get" the channel, although whether or not that interest will extend beyond the next financial bonus cycle remains to be seen. What's equally clear is that vendors' expectations of their channel partners are changing, altered irrevocably by developments such as PC commoditization, home technology adoption, managed services and Software as a Service.

That's even more reason for solution providers to closely monitor the leadership signals being sent not just by the channel executives directly responsible for the tactical details of their business relationship but by the CEOs of their partner companies. If that CEO rarely has anything to say about the channel, solution provider, beware.

Who's the real deal? Tell me which vendor best supports its channel plan. CRN Editor Heather Clancy welcomes feedback at hclancy@cmp.com.