Google Inks First US Distribution Deal

Michael Cizmar, president of MC+A, a Chicago-based solution provider, has been selling the appliances for a couple of years and was happy to hear they'd be available through Ingram Micro and not through Dell, which OEMs the GSA on behalf of Google.

Google has been fairly channel-friendly over the last couple of years, but adding Ingram Micro gives it another layer of support and distance from Google's direct sales force, Cizmar said.

"They've been fairly channel friendly with the partners overall. Some [issues] have come up, but you remember that this is a program that is less than two years old. Your HPs, Microsofts, IBMs have 20 years worth of experience [in the channel]. There are some things that are great, and some things that are not fully vetted out," he said.

A full GSA solution can cost a couple hundred thousand dollars, Cizmar said. "We've worked with companies with 20,000 employees and Mom and Pop offerings," he said.

The products themselves have been attractive to customers, he said.

"It makes a compelling offer to companies that don't have the resources to otherwise take up implementing enterprise search. VARs should be interested," he said. "I think appliances are great for VARs because you can wrap everything into something that is tangible to sell. Say with [an] IBM [solution], the software alone is the cost of the GSA."

Google's move to the channel could spark up increased competition for solution providers between itself and Microsoft. The two companies have waged war in court recently over search capabilities integrated into Microsoft's Windows Vista operating system.

Two weeks ago, Microsoft agreed to modify Vista to address concerns that the OS did not leave room for competition from other desktop search applications. It's unclear whether that case will impact Google's attempts to woo solution providers.

Google has solution provider relationships in other parts of the world, including Australia and New Zealand, but the company had recently said nothing was imminent in the U.S. This morning, despite the cat out of the bag, the vendor's Google Mini Web page answered no to the question "Do you have a reseller program?"

Two months ago, Google's Kevin Smith, partner program manger for enterprise, told VAR Business that it had no plans to enhance its channel program much beyond its 100 or so partners in North America that it worked with directly.

"It's not a matter of numbers; it's a matter of success," Smith said at the time. "It's more about meeting the customers'' need for services than growing the number of solution providers."