About Our 2009 Partner Program Guide

In another finding, solution providers feel that proven technical skills based on the number of implementations and reference accounts should be the most important criteria in determining the tiered levels of a partner program. Meanwhile, a partner's sales volume and the number of certifications held, often used as program criteria, were dubbed the least important criteria, according to VARs.

Some small VARs feel their larger competitors have an unfair advantage when it comes to a vendor's partner program tiers, even if the smaller company has the same skill set.

"It's hard for us to move on. We never get the sales volume. We tend to have smaller deals," said TCC Technologies' Dolan.

Fidelity Max's Bright agreed, noting that it's especially difficult for newer VARs to move up a vendor's food chain.

"If a vendor's program has any level of [tiered] partnership, I usually don't participate," he said. "If they give these [large] guys extra incentives, extra discounts, how does anyone starting out even have a shot? I believe there's enough business in this country for all of us. [Tiers] give the bigger guys, and maybe not always the best guys, more resources."

The perfect partner program might include a hybrid of rewards based on skill sets, volume and certifications, said Acuity's Gilden.

"It doesn't need to be weighted in one direction. It's the equivalent of having life experience to get your degree. I don't want to reprimand people getting training and certified, but at the end of the day, someone that has a year or two of experience in the field doing implementations is more valuable," he said.

In the study, VARs said their inability to see additional value and not meeting revenue goals to realize that value were the top reasons why they do not typically join a new vendor's program.

"From a programmatic standpoint, we look at what the commitments are. Then we compare that against what we feel the return on investment would be. If the commitments outweigh the value, typically that's when we'd walk away," Gilden said.

The benefits of an established vendor's partner program is one of the primary reasons why Fidelity Max will choose a vendor, said Bright.

"I don't do mediocre companies. Usually, we don't partner with a company right away. I'll wait two or three years for them to work the bugs out. When it comes to see the value, if they have a good product or service, there's a reason to partner. If it's just to have access to the products, that's no incentive," he said.

When solution providers do look for new partner programs to join, access to product discounts and rebates, leads and demo equipment are the three primary motivators, according to the survey research. Product discounts and rebates help you create enough margin initially to support bringing on a new vendor, said Hedin.

"Then, of course, if those products are part of a bigger solution, they lend themselves to us selling services or recurring services wrapped around that," he said.

Gilden noted that discounts and rebates can be great motivators, but it also depends on the difference in rebates for those in the program and those not in the program.

"I don't care if I can get 40 percent off if the next person gets 30. The spread is very, very important," Gilden said. "Also, the leads are great but it's also about how they go to market. It's one thing to say, 'Here's a lead,' it's another to say, 'There's an opportunity here, we'd like to engage with you and go talk to the customer.' "

Extra margin is also the most important element of a vendor's deal-registration program, according to the survey. Thirty-two percent of VARs said extra margin leaves them extremely satisfied or very satisfied with deal registration.

"It gives us the opportunity for some bigger deals without the fear of someone swooping in on the deal, or some vendors taking a bigger deal direct," he said.

And when it comes to leads, nearly half of the VARs in the survey said qualified leads are the best way for a vendor to motivate and support their solution provider partners. That was the top choice by a wide margin over MDFs and dedicated field or inside account personnel.

"Leads are not hard to come by. Qualified leads are hard to come by," said Hedin. "In a lot of cases, we've invested in a vendor's sales training and tech certifications and we have all the things we need to be able to act on truly qualified leads. If a vendor can qualify those and frame them up for us, we can respond quickly and create pipeline very rapidly. It cuts down the whole sales cycle."

Hewlett-Packard is a vendor that understands VARs need qualified leads to truly drive deal closures, Hedin said. "I know they're working hard to qualify those, particularly in the ProCurve business. Our close rate is much better with them," he said.

TCC's Dolan summed it up: The ability to provide qualified leads shows that a vendor is truly engaged with partners' success. "If they're trying to give us qualified leads, it generates business for them," Dolan said. "That means they're interested in a partnership."