About Our 2009 Partner Program Guide

When it comes to vendor partner programs, solution providers know what they want: good, qualified leads, access to demo equipment and technical training. They also know what they don't want: programs where they don't see value and tiered programs based on the number of certifications.

As part of the 2009 Partner Program Guide, Everything Channel, parent company of CRN, surveyed solution providers to gain further insight into how vendors might improve their partner programs. In addition, vendors submitted applications detailing their partner programs that were then evaluated by Everything Channel's Institute for Partner Education & Development on operational performance and more. Based on those evaluations, some partner programs were designated as 5-Stars.

So what do VARs feel goes into a top-notch partner program? For one, vendors might think about increasing their technical training initiatives, as that was chosen as the most important program component by solution providers. Sixty-one percent of respondents rated technical training as extremely important or very important. The availability of demo or evaluation equipment was second at 59 percent.

"For our top vendors, [technical training] is our value-add and access to that, essentially getting our guys up to speed, is important to us. For them to invest in me, in us, it lets us do all our own presales, implementation, support services," said Dave Gilden, partner and COO of Acuity Solutions, a Tampa, Fla.-based solution provider.

The least important vendor program components, according to the survey, were the size of the partner community and how a vendor monitors the growth of its partners' business. Further testimony on this topic comes from the fact that the areas where VARs want to spend their MDFs from vendors is in training and certification (53 percent) and demo and evaluation equipment (52 percent), according to the survey.

Steve Bright, CEO of Fidelity Max, a Kansas City, Mo.-based solution provider, said the ability to spend MDF dollars there gives his company an advantage in the marketplace.

"If we can have demos that we've never used before and we can set one out on-site and leave it there for a short period, we can show how it benefits [customers]," Bright said. "We don't even have to come pick it up. A demo program gets me in the door and gets me an account that I might not otherwise get. Or it exposes the client to technology that they might never have paid money for up front because they didn't understand it."

Solution providers also want vendors to actively help them increase their services attach rate, according to the study. That was chosen as extremely important or very important to 42 percent of solution providers when measuring their satisfaction with channel programs in which they are most active. Sales incentives, such as rebates and spifs, was a close second with 41 percent.

The reason is simple, said Patrick Dolan, director of business development at TCC Technologies, Carrollton, Texas. "That's where our real margin is. If we can drive services, that's even paramount over sales of hardware. That's really what we're shooting for," he said. Other solution providers wholeheartedly agreed. "It's money. There's no other reason. [Services] is where you make your margin. They also create entanglement and deeper relationships with customers," said Acuity's Gilden.

Larry Hedin, vice president of sales and marketing at Heartland Technology Solutions, Des Moines, Iowa, said a vendor that can drive a higher services attach rate is truly valuable.

"There's no doubt that a heavily services-oriented company is more profitable than one without a services focus," he said.

Next: Technical Skills Count