Siemens To Sell Services Via VARs

Solution providers can sell the services to fill gaps in their own skill sets as they develop their practices around the vendor's IP telephony and convergence technologies, said Rick Fitzgerald, vice president and general manager of the Channel Solutions Group at Siemens Enterprise Networks, based here.

Partners also can sell Siemens Enterprise Networks' services to customers with branch offices outside their geographic reach, said Ron Murphy, Siemens product manager at Alltel, a communications solution provider in Little Rock, Ark.

Through a pilot program, Alltel already sold Siemens Enterprise Networks' support services to a national retail furniture outlet based in the Little Rock area, Murphy said. "Without these services, we would have gone through the channel organization to see what business partners Siemens had in the areas [we couldn't reach]," Murphy said. "It was a longer, more arduous process," he said.

Siemens Enterprise Networks first launched its HiPath professional services last year. The offerings include systems integration, customization, voice-over-IP readiness assessments, managed services and life-cycle services such as design, project management and support.

The vendor also has developed several services packages to sell through partners, said Paul Reitmeier, senior vice president of services at Siemens Enterprise Networks.

With HiPath Remote Start, Siemens Enterprise Networks provides back-end project management, while the channel partner provides local, on-site service. The vendor also offers HiPath Full Start, in which Siemens Enterprise Networks provides back-end project management as well as on-site implementation services.

Other packages include HiPath Robotics, which provides remote diagnostics, fault identification and problem resolution; HiPath Carrier Management, whereby Siemens Enterprise Networks manages a customer's service provider relationships; HiPath Remote Wrap, a support service provided directly to end users; and HiPath Remote Maintenance, a support service provided through partners.