Sun Mea Culpa: Sales Tactics, Sun PS Disenfranchised Software Partners

Speaking to solution providers at the Sun iForce Partner Summit here, Bob Lamvik, vice president of Americas software sales, and John Caputo, vice president of Ameicas for Sun Professional Services (SunPS), admitted that there has been conflict with Sun ONE partners at both the sales and professional services level. However, they cited new initiatives aimed at repairing some of the damage that conflict caused partner relationships.

Lamvik said in the past some Sun sales representatives in the Global Sales Organization (GSO) competed with partners to close deals, particularly at the end of fiscal quarters, to meet their revenue goals.

"We have disenfranchised some channel partners," Lamvik told a group of Sun ONE solution providers in a session at the conference. "We've let ourselves get too far down the road of doing everything we need to do to close a quote."

However, Lamvik said in the past year, Sun has become more focused on providing a level playing field that will allow both Sun and its iForce partners to successfully make a profit by providing services and solutions on Sun-based infrastructure.

"We're not going to let people win individual battles if we all lose the war," Lamvik said. "You are our extended sales force and we can't do this without you."

CRN has previously reported complaints by Sun ONE partners that they have experienced conflict with both SunPS and the GSO. But solution providers said in recent months that the organization was making a substantial effort to team more with partners.

"We're hearing that there's a charter for Sun Professional Services to work with partners," said Christian Dwyer, vice president of operations for Navidec, a Greenwood Village, Colo.-based solution provider. "That's an important component to get figured out. That will demonstrate that there is a channel commitment."

Lamvik did not go into specific details, but said the Sun GSO is eyeing its sales compensation model and may possibly implement more partner-friendly incentives for working with Sun ONE partners during a reorganization in July. Sun implements a corporate restructuring every July at the end of its fiscal year.

Currently, Sun has a partner-neutral sales compensation model, but does not specifically incent its GSO to sell software with partners, channel executives have told CRN.

Lamvik also said that Sun is putting a new solution in place to take quarterly surveys of Sun ONE iForce partners to check in on the health of partners and to hear any concerns partners may have about teaming with Sun.

Speaking to Sun ONE partners following Lamvik, Caputo said that although he knows competition between solution providers and SunPS has been a major sore point, the services organization is making a concerted effort to alleviate that conflict.

"We want to leave you with the impression that we in [SunPS] are very serious about the channel," Caputo said. "We need to compete less or stop competing with you."

Caputo told partners about rebates available to them through Sun's Authorized Sales and Referral Program (ASRP), rolled out to iForce partners last fall and now available to partners with a Sun ONE specialty.

Through the program, solution providers can either resell Sun PS services and make a margin by receiving the services on a discount, or refer a customer to SunPS and receive a 5 percent rebate on the billable services, as well as a 5 percent rebate on any follow-up services under the referral program.

Sun also is offering an extra 5 percent--amounting to a total of 10 percent--on rebates for referral business under the ASRP for its fiscal fourth quarter, which began March 31 and ends June 30, Caputo said.

SunPS also subcontracts services work to partners if they bring customers to SunPS and request services under the ASRP, Caputo added.

In fact, SunPS aims to double the percentage of subcontracting services out to solution providers from its current rate of 22 percent to more than 40 percent in the next year, Caputo told solution providers.

To further spur cooperation between SunPS and partners, Caputo said SunPS also has instituted a group of partner advocates in each U.S. geographic region aimed at ensuring fair play and promoting teaming opportunities between SunPS and Sun ONE iForce partners.

"Partner advocates help us work together so we can match delivery needs with the right partner," Caputo said.

Caputo said this endeavor will be aided by Sun's newly instituted infrastructure solutions practices in four area--Java Web services, data center, data management and edge computing. Solution providers going forward will be identified by their core competencies under each of these categories, which will make it easier for SunPS to identify the correct partner in a region with which to partner on a deal, Caputo said.

Further, as previously reported by CRN, SunPS also is working on establishing SunPS intellectual property, in the form of best practices, reference implementations and methodologies, related to its four key solutions areas, Caputo said.

While this is "still in its infancy stage," partners later this year will have access to this intellectual property and be able to offer it in services to customers, Caputo said.