Sun Promises More Shared Services Opportunities

Traditionally, Sun Professional Services has used large service providers for subcontracted work, but the company's reliance on iForce partners for subcontracted services has increased to 28 percent this year from 7 percent last year, said Bill Cate, director of channel architecture and sales for U.S. sales operations and partner management at Sun, from GE Access' New Frontiers Conference here.

"The strategy is to drive it into high double digits. Partners really want that," Cate said.

Solution providers said increased partneship with Sun Professional Services is vital to the growth of iForce partners.

"It's desperately needed. I would hope if the channel is capable of delivering the quality of services needed, that they would give us 100 percent. Why not use the channel?" said Al Gnuse, manager of Maryville Technologies, a St. Louis-based solution provider.

Maryville has partnered with Sun Professional Services and hopes to develop the relationship even more, Gnuse said.

"It's a win-win situation. Sun Professional Services doesn't have the skill set in the region. We had the skill set and we're there [geographically]. They manage the project but we do the work," he said.

Norm Shockley Jr., president and CEO of Acclaim Technology, a San Jose,Calif.-based solution provider, said increased partnership will lead to less conflict with Sun Professional Services in the field.

"If you can't resell their professional services, you end up competing against the manufacturers in larger opportunities," Shockley said. "The more products or services to sell through the channel, the better."

The partnership is designed to create a full technical community, not just drive more services revenue, said Bill Cook, vice president of U.S. sales at Sun.

"We don't want to view [Sun Professional Services and iForce partners] as separate entities. If people feel like they're engaged in part of a community, that's really the goal for that business," Cook said. "We're trying to go about this in a more systematic way. Through the voice of the partner, we listened, we designed it, we took the time to get it right, we tested the hypothesis."

GE Access started reselling Sun Professional Services a couple of years ago, and the strategy is still gaining traction because Sun and solution providers need to build a level of trust with each other, said Anna McDermott, president and CEO of the Westminster, Colo.-based distributor.

"We have worked to get momentum. Most vendors don't have reseller programs for professional services. They just don't go through two-tier distribution," she said. "You need a solid offering. You need to be trained and educated, and it's one deal at a time. It takes effort from both the manufacturer and the solution provider. If a vendor only brings opportunity to resellers, the vendor will lose interest over time. You have to reciprocate."