EMC made short work of its competitors in the Annual Report Card this year. The Backup and Recovery vendor came in first in each of the 18 criterion in this category--and finished almost 11 points ahead of second-place rival NetApp. EMC's largest margin of victory was a 23.3-point victory over IBM in ease of doing business. The vendor's highest subcategory score was in product innovation, where it beat its competitors by a minimum of 15 points.
 |
| 2012 Annual Report Card Home Page |
"I think that products was the key indicator. Partners invested in our portfolio," said Director of Global Channels, Backup Recovery Systems Division Anne Wimmer. "We have a lot of partners we started to work with through our data domain acquisition. Through our backup and recovery portfolio [they have] the ability to cross-sell and upsell products. Partners can go into their entire install base and have discussions about our products at different levels."
EMC won the Backup and Recovery category in 2011 as well, but by a smaller margin. The pressure is on, therefore, to continue such high levels of performance. To meet the challenge, Wimmer said EMC would offer increasing numbers of channel-only products in the coming months. "We want to be predictable, and for our channel partners to be profitable," she said. "Integration with VMware is critical. From the BRS [backup recovery solution] perspective, backup is proving to be a tremendous opportunity for channel partners. And, it's a great point of entry."
Wimmer also credited strong sales team engagement for her company's success, which was reflected in the strong revenue and profit potential scores. Channel partners, such as Arrow Electronics, noted that the vendor was supportive of their goals.
"Partnering with EMC's BRS division gives Arrow, as an extension of our solution providers, a high-growth opportunity that expands end-customer relationships with best-of-breed technology," said Matt Rochford, senior director, EMC Practice, Arrow Enterprise Computing Solutions. "It's that simple."
