IBM Global Services Hopes New Rules Ease Channel Conflict

The new documents, made public earlier this month at IBM PartnerWorld 2007, outline the benefits, expectations and rules governing behavior between IGS and Business Partners as they jointly attack the burgeoning SMB market. But partners note that IGS' Principles of Engagement document and Teaming Blueprint for IBM Business Partners will take some time to digest. The five-page documents are comprehensive and detailed.

"It's good that IBM has articulated the policies and practices. But it's still rather broad, and I think over time it needs to get more clarity," said Joe Mertens, executive vice president of Sirius Computer Solutions, an IBM Premier Business Partner based in San Antonio, Texas. "The policies and practices around hardware and software are much clearer than they are around services."

Mertens called IGS' partnering efforts "a work in progress. But he said Sirius did about $85 million in IGS-related business last year, and he anticipates 25 percent growth in 2007. Sirius had overall revenue of $619 million in 2006.

Kevin Hooper, vice president of worldwide business partner strategy, sales and distribution at IBM, said, "One of our biggest issues in going to market [in services] with Business Partners is purely a communications issue."

He said the rules of engagement and the partnering blueprint clearly communicate IGS' commitment to team with Business Partners in the SMB space.

"IBM can't reach the SMB market without partners, and IBM recognizes that," Mertens said. "The challenge will be -- especially for partners that have made significant investments in service capabilities -- deciding where does IBM provide value, where does the Business Partner provide value, and how is each party compensated for that? It's not an easy issue, and I think it's going to take a while to figure out."