Sheila O'Neil Burnishes The Panasonic Brand

Panasonic has spent years developing a trusted global brand in everything from batteries to radios, and its attention to product detail earned the company a stunning 105 in product quality and reliability in the Notebooks and Mobile Computers category in the 2008 VARBusiness Annual Report Card survey--the second-highest quality score in the entire survey. (Intel came in first with a score of 108.)

This is the first year Panasonic, Secaucus, N.J., has participated in the ARC--an accomplishment driven in large part by the efforts of Sheila O'Neil, vice president of channel sales. For her work, O'Neil was recognized with one of the ARC's Channel Executive of the Year awards. VARBusiness talked with O'Neil about the ToughBook product, her company's commitment to quality and how she plans to win top prize in the Notebooks and Mobile Computers category in 2009.

VB: Why do you think your ToughBook products are resonating within the channel?

O'Neil: We've built the company on the products. ... We engineer and develop the overall product. ... We work with our partners and then make decisions, say it's time for an update to the clamshell notebook. It all starts with customer saying, "Here's what I want, and I still need it to work every day, non-stop."

VB: Panasonic really showed its strength in quality in this year's ARC. What kind of focus does your company put on quality?

O'Neil: Last month, we shipped our most rugged product ever. ... We start by asking, "What do you want out of this machine?" Then we look and say, If water gets in the keyboard, what will happen? If we drop it at x, will its hard disk survive? ... We look beyond and test it to how far can it go.

VB: What's your channel relationship like?

O'Neil: We work with both VARs and end users. ... We ask: "What does health care need vs. what do utilities need?" ... In utilities, for example, they mount notebooks into vehicles, but those also need to go out [into the] field. ... It's a whole different set from health-care needs. ... So you need a variety of different products to fit customers' needs.

VB: Panasonic's communication score was weak. What are your plans to shore that up?

O'Neil: At the time the survey was taken, we were experiencing back orders because we were transitioning versions. So there was a slow-up with some processors that delayed product. We didn't do a good enough job communicating when product would be available. In July, we had a lot of people not happy with us. We build great products and we're growing quickly in the channel, really focusing on ease of doing business, communication and talking about and building systems to put in place.

VB: What's your plan for the next 6 to 12 months?

O'Neil: Leading the efforts of what I know we need to work on and help communication. Getting that word out to our partner and distribution base. ... My top priority is improving communications and determining how we get the word out about our ToughBook products. That includes giving partners sources and quality information as well as quality vehicles we are communicating through.