Intel Exec Takes Off The Gloves, Talks Up Program Changes

An Intel channel executive came out swinging Monday, seeking to dispel what she described as several "myths" regarding its technology leadership and channel commitment.

"Let's be very clear, Intel is a tech leader," said Shirley Turner, director of North America channel marketing for the Santa Clara, Calif.-based company, during her keynote presentation at XChange Tech Connect, "Intel: No Boundaries."

Turner pointed not only to the breakthroughs contributed by Intel Founder Robert Noyce, but to the company's approach to platform innovation around Centrino for notebooks, Viiv for home integration platforms, and VPro, which provides advances in management and virtualization for digital enterprises at the desktop level.

"We didn’t go pick up a technology and create a business proposition around it in B school," Turner said.

For more recent evidence of its leadership in things tech and channel, she pointed to the performance enhancements and power efficiencies offered in Intel's forthcoming generation of Core 2 Duo chips plus a newly repositioned channel program it will unfurl July 1.

"We are totally and completely and utterly committed to the success of the channel," Turner said, pointing to corporate support right up to the very top of Intel's executive ladder to Intel CEO Paul Otellini.

Probably the most newsworthy portion of Turner's presentation hinged on the coming rollout of the Intel Channel Partner Program, which will replace the existing Intel Product Dealer initiative. Under the new effort, system builders that meet certain minimum buying requirements will be entitled to use an Intel logo in their collateral. Previously, this right was conferred to those carrying the Intel Premier Provider designation. System builders said they have begun hearing about the new program over the past several weeks.

Benefits that will be carried over into the new program include the Intel Channel Connect and Collect effort, which lets VARs and solution providers add T1 and other carrier services to their offerings in exchange for a referral fee of $200 to $250; and the Intel Software Connection, which allies channel partners with smaller ISVs and developers that have applications for vertical markets and the digital home that could be coupled with custom systems.

Turner also touted the recently announced Verified By Intel program, which makes it simpler for system builders to assemble the pieces needed to create a whitebook offering, as a sign of the company's ongoing commitment to its channel partners. That idea came out of a meeting the Intel Board of Advisors, composed of about a dozen Intel channel partners, had about two years ago with Otellini.

After Turner's speech, several attendees said they were pleased to see the microprocessor giant continue evolving its programs for system builders and VARs, but they said Intel can't afford to let up.

"They ignored us, and AMD catered to us," said David Lair, owner and technology consultant for Lair Services, Brandon, Fla. "They did let AMD get a jump on them." He pointed to the Verified by Intel program, however, as a crucial differentiator against AMD.

Glen Coffield, president of Cheap Guys Computers, Longwood, Fla., said Intel gained credibility with its presentation but he expressed frustration that the promises of the Core 2 Duo desktop (aka Conroe) still aren't here. "When it gets here, then show it to me."

During her presentation, Turner said Core 2 Duo will offer a 20 percent performance boost over the current Core Duo technology, while maintaining the same battery life requirements. In particular, she believes the technology will erase AMD's widely acknowledged market lead in the gaming system world.

The forthcoming Woodcrest server platform, due in the second half of 2006, will offer an 80 percent performance boost along with a 35 percent decrease in power requirements when compared with the Intel Xeon 2.8GHz. "We are slightly behind on the server, we will concede that," Turner said.

Tim Ulmen, product manager/sales with Midwest IT Solutions Group, Witchita, Kan., said based on Turner's presentation, Intel is headed in the right direction. He works with both Intel and AMD, depending on the segment he's addressing. However, he fully admits he is slower to adopt new technologies, given his primary focus on the education market, so he is less anxious about Core 2 Duo and more concerned with staying in closer touch with Intel channel managers.

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