The leading factor was the number of sales training sessions required, which accounted for 11 percent of the overall score. Running neck-and-neck also at 11 percent of the total score, VARs cited the importance about the cost and time is takes to change or add vendors.

What mattered least to VARs was the relative profitability, technical training and vendor support for formal planning.

However, relative profitability matters most to Rob Wolfe, founder, president and CEO of AvcomEast, a solution provider in Vienna, Va.

"Yes, sales training is very important, but the first thing I look at in choosing a vendor is the potential profit margin," he said. "It's not just from selling the actual product itself, but the transaction of providing the total solution. I want to know where I can get complementary margins. It's like walking into a McDonald's: sure you get a hamburger, but then you add fries and a shake."