Symbol To Unveil New Efforts To Strengthen Partners
Both programs aim to give Symbol's partners access to technology and marketing resources they haven't had before, said Verlin Youd, vice president and general manager of the Holtsville, N.Y.-based vendor's Solutions Division. The new Symbol Solutions Center, for example, is a testing lab in which partners can work with Symbol's engineers to validate applications they've designed to run on Symbol's mobile computers and scanners.
The SymbolPlus Partner Program is set up to verify that peripherals such as wireless printers and GPS devices work properly with Symbol products.
"We expect the programs to result in more business being driven through our partners, as well as increased end-user satisfaction," Youd said.
Jan Burton, Symbol vice president of worldwide sales, is slated to give a keynote on program features.
ISV eBusiness Solution Pros (ESP) is the first company to complete the Symbol software validation program. The Tustin, Calif., ISV offers the Stay-Linked terminal emulation and session management software for host-based, wireless connections to Symbol's products.
Mike Pagani, vice president of sales and marketing at ESP, said he's impressed with the new programs. "Being able to show our enterprise customers that the device manufacturer has tested our product on the device in a real-world scenario allows us to move forward with confidence," he said.
Jeff Lem, president of Qdata, a Toronto-based solution provider and Symbol partner, said he's happy to hear that Symbol is taking steps to ensure that its products are properly sold and installed. "If partners don't have a means to test their solutions, then the customer ends up becoming the guinea pig," he said.
Still, Lem said he thinks Symbol also has more strategic, self-serving aims with the programslike moving into new business areas. "Symbol wants to be involved in more deals, and with these types of programs, they can become a player in that transaction where their technology is not necessary," Lem said.