Arrow Set To Launch Multivendor Deal-Registration Portal

Deal-registration programs can be a challenging process for solution providers, but when you have to fill out forms for multiple vendors for the same solution, it becomes even more cumbersome.

Arrow Enterprise Computing Solutions is hoping to change that with the launch next month of a multivendor deal-registration portal. The SolutionRegistration portal should simplify the speed and process of qualifying for pricing discounts, higher margins and rebates, according to Arrow.

The portal will include at least five vendors at launch, said Bill Botti, president and COO of the Alternative Technology Group of Arrow ECS. VMware, Fortinet, Lakeside Software and McAfee are ready to go. A fifth vendor has signed, but Botti said he could not release its identity yet. Arrow approached 10 vendors and got interest from "seven and a half," Botti said.

"VARs complain about into logging into three, four, five sites for a transaction. As a result, they're not registering as many deals because it's so time-consuming and cumbersome," Botti said. "Distribution can be a perfect aggregation point for this information."

Arrow's research found that up to 80 percent of the information requested in a vendor's deal-registration program was the same across multiple vendors—fields like reseller company name, reseller sales rep, contact information for the project lead and end-user information.

"Each supplier wants most of the same info, yet it has to be keyed in over and over," Botti said. "It made sense for us to aggregate it."

The tool offers different views for resellers, vendors and Arrow itself, with customizable management rights for each of those groups, Botti said. "A reseller rep can log in and see only his transactions. Reseller management can see all the deals. The value for a reseller is a single login to save time, money and hopefully register more leads. The vendor sees a bigger pipeline and can take advantage of seeing who else is registered with them. For example, they can see that in the last three months, 20 percent of my McAfee deals included VMware. Maybe they'll look to strengthen their partnership with VMware. It builds some meat in the channel. It's info the [vendors] can't get on their own."

About half of Arrow's vendors in the Alternative Technology portfolio have deal-registration programs or portals. The distributor's goal is to include all of them in SolutionRegistration, Botti said.

Arrow also plans to expand the portal to vendors in its Hewlett-Packard-, IBM- and Sun-focused business units, Botti said. "The more suppliers we get, the more valuable it is to the reseller," he said. Alternative targeted a small group of vendors to get the program off the ground, but Botti knows most VARs will want the "big iron" guys such as HP, IBM and Sun, he said.

"We haven't even approached them on it yet," Botti said. "We picked 10 people that we want to pilot it with. Last Friday, we demonstrated it to the Arrow ECS business units for the first time. Once we launch, we'll schedule meetings for [more] suppliers."