Certify Or Die: IBM Unveils Software 'Controlled Distribution' Plan
Wednesday IBM informed the approximately 100,000 solution providers that sell IBM software that it is switching from an uncontrolled distribution plan, under which solution providers were free to resell the company's software products after doing little more than registering as an IBM partner, to a controlled distribution plan with the new certification requirements.
The change applies across all of IBM's software product lines, including WebSphere, Tivoli, Information Management, Lotus and Rational.
IBM channel executives said the move, which it's calling the "Growth Through Skills" initiative, is designed to ensure that channel partners have the skills to add value to the services they are providing customers and not simply moving products. They even presented it as an opportunity for channel partners to discover just what skills they have and take steps to upgrade them.
"We're now going to ask our partners to show us they are qualified from a technical and sales perspective to sell IBM software," said Shaun Jones, vice president of worldwide channel and general business marketing, in the IBM Software Group. "It's a great test of any partner's value system," he said in a phone interview.
Jones expects "the vast majority"of software channel partners to meet the certification requirements. "I think those who are providing value will do very well."
But Jones and other IBM executives acknowledged that not everyone would make the cut. Some resellers that lack the skills necessary to meet the certification requirements would simply decide it's not worth the investment to try, Jones predicted. IBM executives wouldn't speculate how many of its 100,000 software channel partners would or would not achieve the needed certifications.
Under the current uncontrolled distribution model, IBM has no way of evaluating a channel partner's technical and sales skill levels. The company has offered certification for solution providers. "But has it ever been mandatory? No," said Salvatore Patalano, vice president of business partner program sales in the IBM Software Group. He said the current situation is like a dance hall where anyone can enter after providing a name and address. "Now they've got to prove to us they can dance."
At least one partner, San Diego-based solution provider Dataskill, is applauding the IBM initiative.
"This program will ensure that the right skills are used in the sales process and on the technical side to make sure a solution is deployed properly," said Dave Kemper, a managing partner at Dataskill, in a phone interview. He said some resellers simply push IBM software as a commodity with little or no value-add or do a poor job in recommending solutions to their customers.
IBM has been selling some of its acquired software products, such as the FileNet content management system and Cognos business intelligence applications, under a controlled distribution plan known as "Software ValueNet." But most of IBM's hundreds of software products have been sold on an uncontrolled basis, IBM Software Group's Patalano said.
Under the controlled distribution plan, IBM is creating 14 product groups, such as WebSphere commerce, Lotus portal software and Tivoli security and compliance management. To sell products from any one of those product groups, solution providers must have at least two technical employees certified by IBM to work with those products and at least one sales representative that has passed IBM's "sales mastery" test for the products.
Another way for channel partners to make the grade to continue selling IBM software is to become a certified member of IBM's Value Advantage Plus (VAP) program. VAP program members build solutions that incorporate IBM middleware and are certified by IBM. Last month, IBM expanded the VAP program in an effort to increase sales to midmarket customers.
The controlled distribution plan is IBM's latest effort to get its channel partners to add more value to IBM products, such as through consulting services, rather than simply reselling IBM products. Earlier this month, IBM launched an initiative to provide training, marketing and sales assistance to help partners expand their consulting services offerings.
IBM is setting a deadline of October for channel partners to meet the new certification requirements. The company has developed what it calls the "Partner Readiness Tool," which it's using to assess the skills of software channel partners and provide resellers with a report. IBM is also developing a plan to expand education and training to help partners meet the certification requirements.
Patalano also said IBM is not making any changes in the margins or other financial incentives it offers software resellers.
Kemper said Dataskill sells software from 10 of the 14 product groups and after conducting an in-house review has concluded that it already meets the certification requirements for five of those groups. The company is now considering where it can train existing employees to raise its skill levels and how much it needs to hire from outside.
"We actually have a hiring plan related to this [IBM] initiative," Kemper said, adding that Dataskill may increase its headcount in technical areas by 30 percent and in sales by as much as 50 percent. But he was quick to add that the company is hiring to meet an opportunity, not because it feels pressured by IBM.
IBM has created a page on its PartnerWorld Web site with more information on the program at http://www-200.ibm.com/partnerworld/pwhome.nsf/weblook/pat\\_sw\\_growthroughskills.html.
Along with the three previously mentioned product groups, the other software groups resellers will be certified in are WebSphere SOA Foundation, WebSphere Connectivity, WebSphere Business Process Management, WebSphere SOA Appliances, WebSphere Enterprise Solutions, Tivoli Storage Resource and Infrastructure Management, Tivoli Automation, Tivoli Enterprise Asset Management, Information Management, Enterprise Content Management, Information Management Data Management and Rational Software.