Streamlining Special Bids: IBM's xSeries Line Is First

It is the first step in a new strategy to create an electronic automated process capable of delivering special bids in realtime across IBM&s entire catalog of products and services, said Lance Liden, director of Business Partner channel sales for xSeries at IBM.

“That&s the long-distance goal for 2007, to log onto a Web site and receive a [special] price instantly,” Liden said.

Special-bid requests now require field-sales-level participation, which often delays IBM&s ability to answer a request, executives said. For example, if a solution provider&s local xSeries specialist is out of the office, the request could be delayed for days.

Under the new program, Armonk, N.Y.-based IBM developed a dedicated bid desk in Toronto that handles all xSeries special pricing requests. Two improvements: First, end users do not have to sign documents allowing IBM to provide special pricing to the Business Partners the end user chooses. Second, xSeries specialists do not have to push the request through to IBM. Instead, solution providers compose the special pricing request themselves and submit it to the bid desk.

“They need to describe who the customer is, what the opportunity is, the volumes and time frame and they need to list the prices and parts they need,” Liden said. “This is a big change for partners. It&s an education process for the solution providers, but we are taking them through the process now.”

IBM estimates that requests that take three to nine days to process now will be answered the next day, he added.

Solution providers who heard about the new system last week at Avnet Partner Solutions& Ignition conference in San Antonio applauded IBM&s efforts.

“Dell has delegated authority [to reduce prices] down to the guy calling on you. We may have to go back two or three people escalating up the food chain at IBM and Avnet. It takes days, and [Dell] is responding in hours, if not minutes. Something has to be streamlined there,” said Jim Sweeney, president of Distributed Systems Services, West Lawn, Pa.

The need to improve the special-bid process has been a priority for distributors for several years. IBM is the first vendor to bring a centralized process to Avnet Partner Solutions, said Nicole Enright, director of operational excellence at the Tempe, Ariz., distributor.