IBM Lowers Rebate Requirements For VentureTech Members

Under the New Customer Bonus program, solution providers now can earn rebates of up to 5 percent for selling more than $25,000 worth of IBM products into accounts new to IBM. Previously, the threshold to qualify was $100,000, said Frank Vitagliano, vice president of global distribution channels at IBM.

"We made this change because of feedback from the VTN organization. The feedback was that it's too high. Especially, if we're going after SMB, it has to be at a lower base," Vitagliano said. "A lot of these guys aren't getting $100,000, $200,000 deals; they're getting $40,000, $50,000."

Solution providers praised IBM's action and its commitment to VentureTech.

"It's incredible, but to be honest it's more about the commitment from the vendors. It's not really about the rebate or the exclusive," said Angie Wong, president of Network Designs Integration Services, Fremont, Calif. "I will take a look at their offerings because they are proving that they are serious about being my partner. The [IBM] rebate is nice--it could be another $20,000 a year--but I don't resell IBM because of that. I resell IBM because they have made a commitment to the channel," Wong said.

IBM isn't targeting a specific rival with the new incentive, but the vendor always likes to displace Hewlett-Packard and Dell, Vitagliano said.

HP recently changed flooring terms for some higher-end partners. IBM is evaluating what it can do to increase financing options through its IBM Global Financing group, Vitagliano said.

"There have been a number of resellers here who indicated that capitalization is important to their business. When vendors make changes like this, resellers will re-examine their options. A reseller who has a relationship with IBM Global Financing in place today might want to take advantage of that," he said.