ARC Methodology

This, our 17th annual survey, was conducted by VARBusiness with support from Bernett Research Services, a Boston-based data-collection company, and Answers Research, a Solana Beach, Calif.-based market research and consulting firm. VARBusiness conducted qualitative editorial research with a select group of manufacturers and developers to identify this year's ARC categories. Next, vendors were chosen based on market-share data from industry analysts, including Gartner/Dataquest, IDC and iSuppli-Stanford Resources. Participants submitted a list of their solution-provider partners to be surveyed. In the absence of the minimum requirement, a sample was acquired from VARBusiness' circulation list.

From early June through mid-July, we completed approximately 4,500 interviews; VARs qualified on the basis of recommending,

reselling or supporting the vendor product/service. VARs rated the importance of 15 criteria in product innovation, support and partnership and then rated their vendor satisfaction for each of those criteria. VARs then rated each vendor on overall loyalty. Within the subcategories, 16 issues were weighted by their relative importance, determined by a regression analysis, and combined to ascertain an overall winner. The methodology was devised using recommendations from vendors, reader advisory board members, analysts and staff.