VARs Make Moves To Navigate Uncertain Economy

Open source's growing appeal to customers is based on the fact that the software is less costly up-front (sometimes free) and there is no hassle involving licensing and fees. It's a reduction in time and cost they can see immediately. That's important, as many executives need instant bottom line gratification.

For those customers who can hold out and realize gains a bit into the future, VARs might consider offering "green" products and services. "We have customers that are building into their RFPs a green initiative. Often we are asked for pricing for a standard solution and a green one," Venero said.

"At the end of the day, there are a lot of hidden costs that crop up that you don't realize: For instance, an LCD may cost more initially, but it uses less energy and is easier to get rid of than a CRT."

It's crucial to monetize all those costs so that the customer can make the best decision. The best time to approach a customer with a green proposition is when they are considering upgrading equipment, especially within a data center.

"CPUs today use a fraction of the power that they did five years ago. Customers get a natural power efficiency through updating hardware. And there is new technology emerging, such as AMD's Barcelona, which, because it has hypervisor embedded in it, should produce additional efficiencies in virtualization. And virtualization means using a more streamlined architecture, creating less heat, which uses less energy, and means fewer pieces of hardware, which will need less service," said Rockwell Bonecutter, managing partner for the Accenture Data Center Technology and Operations Practice in America. "It's the holy grail of IT propositions: It's right for the environment, it lets you upgrade hardware and see ROI."

Further, he said the costs of green computing to an organization would be recouped within 18 months.

"It's realistic that you could generate a 30 percent to 40 percent savings in the first year,' said Bonecutter, "and use the savings harvested to fund the rest of the consolidation and virtualization in order to have that positive cash flow within two years."

However the economy unfolds, VARs are going to have to adapt to survive. Those that understand their customers' needs and can come up with innovative, bottom line-oriented solutions will weather the storm intact -- and, possibly, with a healthier, expanded portfolio.