We look at partner programs from 10 cloud vendors that will arm partners with the tools, support and revenue to be successful in cloud computing.
Apple doesn't often buy companies, and it's almost always tight lipped about how they'll fit into its strategy.
FileMaker Pro 11 has arrived, and we had a chance to try out some of the new features.
The title of the post was, "Is it Possible to be Everything to Everybody?"
She wrote:
How can one single web page be a big project? When it's a page that gets more than 35 million visitors a week. When it is the subject of some of the most popular posts on IdeaStorm. When that one page is the entryway to both a corporate and a commerce site. When it must appeal to everyone from individual consumers to large corporate clients, from institutional investors to mainstream media and citizen journalists. When it has to be a place where a student can research a company for their freshman business class, and purchase a computer upon which to write that same paper.
This is the challenge faced as we roll out a beta test of a new design today in the United States.
On a random basis, customers who click onto Dell.com will see a beta version of the redesigned site. Thomas has posted a screen shot of the site on her blog item. But when I looked at it, there seemed to be something missing. In the comments, I wrote, "Laura, Will the new design include a 'find a reseller' link?"
HP has a link to reseller sites. So does Apple, IBM and Sun. Most vendors who work with channel partners have some variation of a "find a reseller" button on their home page. Dell, which has grown up with a direct-to-end user heritage, never has. But Michael Dell now acknowledges that many customers prefer to buy through a reseller. Dell executives are now scratching out a channel program and formal strategy in both in-house meetings and private meetings with solution providers. They say they want to do business with the channel.
Thomas responded to my note and wrote, "Ed- interesting idea. As we expand our retail intitiatives it's certainly something we should consider. Thanks for the feedback."
Dell and Dell.com can't be everything to everybody. But for the customers who prefer to buy through a reseller, one button on the company home page could certainly be something.
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