ARC 2012: Product Quality And Reliability, The Key To Success

It's What Matters Most

There is no substitute for quality. It's what drives sales, and what encourages repeat sales. Selecting vendor partners with high-quality products drives solution provider success. Solution providers surveyed in CRN's 2012 Annual Report Card consider the area of Product Quality and Reliability among the most important when rating their vendor partners.

No. 10: Cisco - Midrange Servers

CEO: John Chambers

Cisco scored a 102.8 in Product Quality and Reliability in the Midrange Servers product category. Cisco is a newcomer this year to the category. In 2011, IBM earned the highest quality score in Midrange Servers. The 10th highest overall quality score last year was EMC's 102.7 in Enterprise Network Storage.

No. 9: RSA - Network Security Software

CEO: Art Coviello

RSA earned a 102.9 in the Product Quality and Reliability criterion in the Network Security Software product category. RSA is a newcomer this year to the category. Last year, Kaspersky Lab's 105.0 in this product category earned it sixth place among all vendors in Product Quality. The ninth highest overall quality score in 2011 was EMC's 103.1 in Backup and Recovery Software.

No. 8: SonicWall - Network Security Appliances

CEO: Matthew Medeiros

SonicWall scored a 103.2 for Product Quality and Reliability in the Network Security Appliances category. In 2011, SonicWall also earned the highest quality score -- 105.0 -- in Network Security Appliances, tying with Kaspersky for sixth place in Product Quality. Last year, the eighth highest overall quality score was EMC's 103.3 in SMB Network Storage.

No. 7: NEC - Flat Panel Displays

CEO: Pierre Richer

Solution providers gave NEC a 103.9 score in Product Quality and Reliability in Flat Panel Displays. Despite an excellent showing, NEC did not win this category. That distinction went to another member of this top 10 list.

No. 6: Kaspersky Lab - Client Security Software

CEO: Eugene Kaspersky

Solution providers gave Kaspersky Lab a 104.9 in Product Quality and Reliability, 2.6 points up from 2011. Still, the 100 percent channel company did not capture the top score in the category. That distinction went to a vendor in the No. 3 spot on this list.

No. 5: Ruckus Wireless - SMB Networking Hardware

CEO: Selina Lo

Ruckus earned a 105.7 in Product Quality and Reliability in the SMB Networking Hardware product category. That score was down slightly from last year, when Ruckus earned a 108.1 in the category, earning the second highest quality score in the survey. The fifth highest overall quality score in 2011 was Adtran's 105.6 in SMB Networking Hardware.

No. 4: EMC - SMB Network Storage

CEO: Joe Tucci

With a 105.8, EMC took the fourth spot on CRN's top 10 in Product Quality list. That score was up a bit from last year, when EMC earned a 103.3 in the category, the eighth highest quality score in the survey. The fourth highest overall quality score in 2011 was Panasonic's 106.3 in Notebooks/Mobile Computers. This year, Panasonic fell out of the top 10 for Product Quality, ranking 15th overall in that category.

No. 3: Sophos - Client Security Software

CEO: Kris Hagerman

Coming in at No. 3, Sophos scored a 106.2 in Product Quality and Reliability for Client Security Software. It's the second consecutive year the vendor has finished third in this category. Sophos did not, however, win the overall product category; that honor went to Kaspersky Lab.

No. 2: Samsung - Flat Panel Displays

CEO: Kwon Oh Hyun

With a 106.9, Samsung sailed into second place in the Product Quality category. The vendor handily beat product category rival NEC, which finished at No. 7 on this list. Last year, Ruckus Wireless in the SMB Networking Hardware category came in second for Product Quality.

No. 1: Intel - Processors

CEO: Paul Otellini

Once again, Intel takes top honors for having the highest Product Quality and Reliability score in the entire Annual Report Card. The vendor's 107.8 outshone its closest category competitor, AMD, by 13.5 points, and the No. 2 vendor in quality, Samsung, by almost a full point.