Niel Nickolaisen, CIO and Director of Strategy Planning, Headwaters Inc.

There's one very important reason Niel Nickolaisen, the only end user on the 2008 CRN Top 25 list, is on our roster of executives who've had a real impact on the channel this year, and it is this: He reminds us all of the basic reason for the very existence of any VAR or solution provider--to provide a value-added service to a customer.

Nickolaisen, who's CIO and director of strategic planning for Headwaters, Inc., knows the true value of the channel and he's embraced a number of VARs as trusted advisors. But he wants more. And he's the kind of customer everyone in the channel should pay attention to.

"The channel needs to do a better job of listening," says Nickolaisen. He describes a recent cold call he received from a VAR who started out the conversation asking, 'How do you handle data?' Nickolaisen said he didn't give that VAR the time of day. "I don't have time for a canned pitch."

Besides, he's already got a stable of channel partners, and some of these relationships go back a decade. The one thing they all share? "They listened before they pitched me."

It can't be more clearly stated.