Regional Integrators Claim IGS Making Strides In Partnering

"Our IGS related business grew 50 percent last year and for the first two months this year, our run rate is triple what it was last year," said Jim Torney, president of Essex Technology Group, a solution provider in Rochelle Park, N.J.

Torney said the reason for the increase in business with IGS can be traced to the IGS rules of engagement, introduced last June, and the hiring of channel-knowledgeable IGS field people.

"Until IGS made a decision where they were going to play and where the channel was going to play, there wasn't a great deal to talk about," he said. "And now the IGS managers in the field have channel experience and know our business. We don't have to explain to them how partners work."

Rich Croll, president of solution provider Foresight Technology Group, Cleveland, said the rules of engagement helped spread the partnering DNA down to the field level at IGS. Now he says it's easier for his company to craft partnering contracts with IGS.

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"We sit down and write a ledger sheet that lists on one side how we expect IBM to help us and how we expect to help IBM," Croll said. "The written contract sets some expectations, and I'd like to see the IGS executives get compensated on the results of the ledger sheet."

Mary Garrett, IGS vice president distribution channels and midmarket, acknowledged that IGS has been difficult to partner with in the past, but that IBM's services arm is poised for a transformation.

"If you've engaged with us in the past and had a bad experience, try again," she said, addressing IBM Business Partners. "IGS is the newest part of IBM to learn about the channel."