Midmarket Pays Off For Loyal Partner

For more than two years, IBM has tried very hard to make inroads into the SMB market. It has launched a raft of new products under the Express label designed specifically for small customers, and it has crafted financing and partner programs as well. At the past two annual gatherings of its worldwide partners, known as PartnerWorld, IBM has made opportunities in the SMB market as much a core theme as on-demand computing and ease-of-doing business.

Like Hewlett-Packard, IBM recognizes that third parties hold the key to succeeding in the midmarket. And it has worked overtime trying to help allies find success in that space.

Now as IBM enters its third year of promoting its work in the midmarket segment, the fruits of its labors are beginning to show. At this year's partner conference, which just wrapped up in Las Vegas, IBM showcased several business partners and their achievements selling to midsize customers. One partner, in particular--MSI Systems Integrators of Omaha, Neb.--was recognized as the 2005 IBM "Blue Diamond" award winner. That's roughly equivalent to the single highest honor IBM bestows on one partner each year at PartnerWorld.

MSI Systems Integrators was singled out for its pioneering work penetrating and servicing midmarket customers in a growing number of geographic regions. What makes MSI Systems Integrators somewhat unique is the company's use of several different types of IBM hardware and software products. The company offers customers in the midmarket space solutions that leverage IBM's complete hardware portfolio, including its eServer line of zSeries, iSeries and pSeries computers, plus software from IBM and its other software business units, including Lotus and Tivoli. It also partners with IBM Global Services. That's significantly more breadth than what the company offered when it opened its doors in September 1994 as a reseller of RS/6000 midrange workstations and servers.

Today, MSI Systems Integrators designs, builds and supports mission-critical hardware, software and service solutions for customers in the Midwest and, increasingly, the Western United States. A VARBusiness 500 company (No. 171 in 2004), MSI Systems Integrators does business in 19 states and is expected to generate nearly $225 million in revenue this year. It not only resells solutions from IBM, Cisco, McData and a host of others, but it builds them as well. It has even created tools to help its own sales process. For example, MSI Systems Integrators created a tool that extracts data from its own sales-forecasting system and puts it automatically into IBM's Siebel-based sales tool. According to IBM, that has helped MSI Systems Integrators make the most of IBM's Opportunity Identification and Progression program.

Although aligned with other vendors, MSI Systems Integrators CEO Jim Simpson says IBM sales are among his company's fastest-growing. It has tried other vendors, including EMC, but always comes back to IBM because of its consistency. In fact, IBM is MSI Systems Integrators' largest and most strategic partner. Last year, the company grew its IBM business by 31 percent. Its IBM SMB sales alone were 136 percent on target through the third quarter of 2004.

Now, MSI Systems Integrators, which was named to IBM's PartnerWorld Advisory Council and featured in its PartnerWorld advertising campaign, is getting deeper and deeper into IBM technology, including IBM's on-demand technology. According to IBM, MSI Systems Integrators is the first partner to launch multiple Business Partner Innovation Centers--essentially IBM product showcases that customers can view firsthand.

"By aligning with IBM and other partner-friendly companies, such as McData, we have been able to penetrate new markets, offer higher value solutions and make the most of opportunities with midmarket customers," Simpson says.