Best Practices: How To Pick Alternative And Emerging Vendors

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According to the 2007 VARBusiness Alternatives Survey, solution providers are both constantly and opportunistically looking for secondary vendors. For the most part, they'll explore an alternative relationship on an "as-needed" basis, or when opportunities present themselves or a customer or market need pushes them toward an alternative. A healthy minority, though, are looking on a weekly and monthly basis for new partnerships that will help expand their business.

But selecting an alternative vendor isn't a trivial matter. The following best practices, based on interviews with solution providers, can serve as a guide for finding, evaluating and selecting alternative vendors.

Slide Show: VARs Reveal Their Alternative Vendor Favorites

1 Establish an Evaluation Process

There's no single way to select an alternative vendor. Some solution providers are more opportunistic, allowing anyone on their staffs to talk to a vendor about emerging products and technologies. Other solution providers have established committees that run alternatives through a formalized evaluation process.

And alternative vendors aren't passive in their pursuit of new partners either. Solution providers report receiving calls and meeting requests as frequently as several times a week. Given the competitive nature of alternatives and rapidly changing technology needs of the marketplace, it's a good idea to have a framework for evaluating alternative vendors.

While the needs of different shops vary, every VAR should define who has the authority to forge new partnerships. In small shops, the decision typically rests with the owner or CEO. In midsize and large organizations, line-of-business managers, sales executives and technical teams may be delegated the authority.

Some VARs realize the enormity of alternative offerings and the need for them to stay competitive, so they've put together formal vendor evaluation committees. Under this model, the committee consists of representatives from the executive team, IT/engineering, sales and marketing. Members review the company's technology and product needs, market conditions and partnership opportunities. Only after careful scrutiny do they use an alternative vendor. The bottom line: No one should ever rush into an alternative relationship without due diligence.

"[The alternatives] need to do something to stand out in the crowd. They can't look just like Symantec or just like McAfee," says Jim Liksa, sales manager and partner at Orlantech in Orlando. "They've got to do something to catch your eye."

NEXT: Two questions to ask yourself when choosing an alternative brand.