10 ARC Facts You Should Know

While Dell received kudos for its revamped return program, in our story "Dell's In" (p. 32), VARs report still having trust issues with the computer manufacturer. Many solution providers don't feel comfortable doing business with Dell, based on previous experiences and on the vendor's reputation of being quite the opposite of channel-friendly. John Zammett, president of HorizonTek Inc., a Huntington, N.Y.-based storage solution provider, said, "We have no intention of partnering with Dell. We see Dell as a competitor. We can outsell them by the value-add we provide. They can't do the [up-close] and personal service we provide."

8. Show VARs The Money
Revenue and profit potential is one of the most important criterion that channel partners rate vendors on in the support subcategory. However, it's not one of the first things vendors can offer. The foundation starts with excellent communication, quality support and clear understanding of their channel partners' customers. Once those objectives are met, then a VAR can start making money.

Vendors are working on showing VARs stronger revenue and profit potential, as it moved from an average score of 65 last year to 71 this year.

9. Partner Portals In Need Of More Work
While certainly not the sexiest part of the vendor/channel relationship, partner portals should not be ignored--but according to this year's Annual Report Card survey results, they are. A world-class portal could provide current communications, training and postsales support documentation (even video!) and hit upon all areas that VARs repeatedly said need improvement. Simply put, effort in improving partner portals could pay off in at least three different criteria, but sadly, no vendor has stepped up their efforts. Last year, partner portal averaged a dismal 62; in this ARC, VARs gave the criteria an average score of 57. In both the 2007 and 2008 ARC surveys, partner portal earned among the lowest scores of the ARC criteria.

10. Vendors Sweat The Details, Every Day
Sure, it's tough for vendors to offer innovative products and work within a very short cycle time, but, hey, solution providers have to do it, and they expect the same from their suppliers. EMC, which won high marks in quality and reliability, is no stranger to detail. Ken Steinhardt, CTO for customer operations at top-finisher EMC, said that his company tests components and finished products using a broad range of "torture tests." That might mean shaking them, putting them in hot rooms and cold rooms, and then extensively testing them to see how well they work with a broad range of EMC and non-EMC products.