In that vein, I'd like to share with you a couple of the notes you sent about "Practicing What You Preach." (For those of you who DON'T read this blog regularly, I challenged VARs and systems integrators to come up with the names of companies who do a good job at supplying their partners with demo equipment they can use to better manage their own businesses.)

From Vincent Paragone of KK Enterprises of Huntsville, Ala., comes a thumbs-up for Microsoft's Action Pack program. He adds:

"I don't mind paying for equipment that I use in my business. I prefer to get it discounted rather than as demo equipment for several reasons. First, securing demo equipment is not always easy from vendors where a previous relationship does not exist. Second, if the equipment I deploy does not meet my requirements, selling it is very difficult. Usually, equipment provided as a demo comes with Ts & Cs that prohibit outright sale. Lastly, if the vendors believe they supplied demo equipment, then they expect me to demo it. If the intent is an evaluation, it is quite possible that I may be looking at several vendors, and only one will be the vendor of choice."

Kim Kiefer with CCC Technologies of Elk Grove, Ill., shouts out with some kudos for Avaya, which is its vendor for IP telephony. Kiefer's company has just completed a half-million-dollar infrastructure upgrade. (And it has trumpeted that fact as part of its customer newsletter.) Kiefer notes:

"Not only does it give all our associates (not just client-facing account managers and engineers) a chance to become solution evangelists, but it speaks volumes to our customers and prospects to see that we are using the exact same technology that we are proposing to solve their business challenges. Not to mention that our entire facility is now a real-time application demonstration center for anyone who wants to see an application they are considering in action."

Share your ideas on this thread by e-mailing me directly OR by registering in ChannelWeb and adding your ideas to one of our new discussions.