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5,000 Solution Providers Grade the Top Vendors' Products and Programs. See How Your Vendors Fared.

The 2001 Annual Report Card



Category - Click For Report Card Winner
Advanced Desktops and Workstations Sun
Notebook Computers Compaq
Entry Level Servers IBM
Midrange Servers IBM
Voice and Data Networking Cisco
Enterprise Operating Platforms Novell
Database Software Microsoft
Storage Management Software Veritas
Application Development and Deployment Macromedia
Security Management Software Tivoli
Internet Application Server Software Macromedia
Disk Drives Seagate
Network Storage Sun
Display Technology Viewsonic
Business-Class IP Services WorldCom

2001 Methodology

FAQ: Understanding the Annual Report Card Scores

Past ARC Home Pages

2007 | 2006 | 2005 | 2004 | 2003 | 2002 | 2001 | 2000

Winners Crowned At ARC Awards Ceremony
VARBusiness joined nearly 1,000 guests at the Dolphin Hotel in Orlando, Fla. on Aug. 28 to recognize this year's ARC winners. Key executives received awards in 15 product and service categories, and special recognition went to ViewSonic, for the Lifetime Achievement Award, and Veritas, this year's Breakthrough Player of the Year...    more

Steve Mills, vice president and general manager, IBM Software Group
The Best & The Worst
Measuring Vendors' Commitment To Partners
Given the current uncertainty in the economy and the increased conflict solution providers are encountering with vendors, choosing a vendor partner has never taken on such importance. Choose wisely, and success can still be attained. Choose poorly, however, and expect to run into trouble or conflict--at the very least...     more

Part 2: IT Disservices?
Part 3: No Other Choice
Part 4: Battle for the Midmarket
Part 5: Web Services Scare
Advanced Desktops & Workstations
Sun Narrowly Outshines the Competition
As solution providers continue to emphasize services, the bottom-line impact of advanced desktops and workstations many be decreasing. But the hardware itself plays an important role in a solution provider's overall ability to be a one-stop shop for its customers...     more

Part 2: Profit Potential
Part 3: Portal To Productivity

Developing Programs To Fit VARs
A Q&A With Joe Womack
Sun's vice president of central area sales

Sun's Channel Strategy Rises Above Challengers
Gary Grimes, vice president of U.S. partner management and sales operations, Sun
Compaq's Capellas
Notebook Computers
Compaq Delivers On Promise To Improve Performance
Last year Compaq walked away from the ARC vowing to improve performance, particularly in the areas of support and availability and to, well, just become an easier company to do business with--they delivered on that promise, and then some...     more

Part 2: Commitment To the Channel

Pushing Internal Efficiencies
A Q&A With Michael Capellas, Compaq's chairman and CEO

Compaq, Toshiba Tie For Top Honors In Channel Strategy
Entry-Level Servers
IBM Focuses On Form And Price
In the unforgiving economy of 2000 and 2001, customers rearranged their priorities, moving price and return-on-investment to the top of the list. Doing so forced vendors in the entry-level server space to adjust their approach to that channel...     more

Part 2: Beyond a Box
Part 3: Focus on Form

Envisioning the Future
Analysis: Sam Palmisano, IBM's president and COO


IBM's Channel Strategy Boosted by Technology, Pricing Innovations
IBM's Palmisano
Peter Rowley, general manager, IBM's Global Business Partners
Midrange Servers
iSeries Tops the Chart With Third ARC Win
There's no mistaking which company rules the midrange server market. For the third year in a row, IBM took first place. This year, solution providers saw profit margins on hardware continue to dwindle, and many turned to services for additional profit. But their loyalty to the iSeries remained strong...     more

Part 2: Beyond Price
Part 3: Revamped Offerings

Communication Is Key To IBM's Channel Strategy
Voice & Data Networking
Networking Vendors Rework Channel Programs
In some ways this year's voice and data networking scores mask the tough year vendors have had selling in a soft economy. No doubt, this has been a year of tremendous change as vendors adjust their channel programs to better position solution providers to survive in a slow economy. And it appears Cisco has done the best job...     more

Part 2: Hard Work Matters
Part 3: Neck and Neck

Passionate About Satisfaction
A Q&A With John Chambers, Cisco Systems' CEO

Cisco Reaches Out To Partners
Cisco's Chambers
Novell's Messman
Enterprise Operating Platforms
Novell Crushes Its Rivals, Leaving Microsoft Behind
The marketplace for enterprise operating platforms has traditionally been a pretty bloody battlefield--and, according to the ARC, last year's first-place winner, Microsoft, is now losing the channel battle to top-ranked Novell and second-place winner Sun...     more

Part 2: On the Decline

Valuing Product Quality
A Q&A With Jack Messman, Novell's CEO

Novell Improves Channel Strategy
Database Software
Microsoft Scores Sweeping Victory In Databases
Down and dirty. The term best describes the slugfest IBM, Microsoft and Oracle are waging in the database-management software market. The heavyweights' hyperbolic marketing, competitive pricing and emphasis on working with partners have made it difficult for the competition...     more

Part 2: Aggressive Moves

Excited About Innovation
A Q&A With Rick Belluzzo, Microsoft's president and COO

Solution Providers Trust Microsoft

Microsoft's Belluzzo
Veritas' Bloom
Storage-Management Software
Veritas' Well-Built Channel
So far, 2001 has shaped up to be the year of the value-added channel for storage-management software. For one thing, the major storage-management software players in this year's ARC are putting a renewed emphasis on the channel and other partners selling their products...     more

Part 2: Management's Misstep

Keeping Customers Happy
A Q&A With Gary Bloom, Veritas' CEO

Veritas' Support For Channel Partners Pays Off
Security-Management Software
Tivoli Secures the Lead
Security software vendors have traditionally earned their keep by offering clients stability and peace of mind as they transact business over the Internet. So it's ironic that these companies have little, if any, ability to control what their partners think about their channel programs. All they can do is build programs they think their partners want...     more

Part 2: Security As the Enabler
Part 3: Relying On the Channel

Leveraging IBM's Infrastructure
A Q&A With Robert LeBlanc, Tivoli's general manager

Tivoli Embraces the "Three A's" of Security

Tivoli's LeBlanc
Macromedia's Burgess
Application Development & Deployment Tools
Macromedia Unlocks the Secret To Successful Relationships
Companies in the enterprise application development and deployment tools category are riding the waves of product integration begun last year and taking it to a new level, defined by simplicity and usability...     more

Part 2: A Convergence of Trends

Supporting Web Professionals
A Q&A With Rob Burgess, Macromedia's chairman and CEO

IBM Channel Success Based On Mentoring, Training Partners
Internet Application Server Software
Macromedia Dominates Application Server Software
ColdFusion continues to be the product to beat. Solution providers gave Macromedia top ratings in seven of 11 criteria included in the survey, including product quality/functionality, product availability and pre- and post-sales support...     more

Part 2: Delivering On E-Promises
Part 3: Supporting Roles

Macromedia Takes the Lead in Loyalty

Jeremy Allaire, CTO, Macromedia
Seagate's Luczo
Hard Disk Drives
Seagate Drives Home Hard Disk Win
There's no denying a purely human desire to hoard one's valuables. And it is that basic instinct that is, in large part, fueling the rapid growth of shipments in the disk-drive industry. Analysts say shipments of data-storage devices will grow between 30 and 40 percent by 2003...     more

Part 2: Examining the Scores
Part 2: Burgeoning Opportunities

Understanding VARs' Needs
A Q&A With Steve Luczo, Seagate's CEO

Seagate's Secret To Success
Network Storage
Sun Edges Out Market-Share Leader EMC
Sun Microsystems emerged the victor in the network storage category in this year's ARC. Impressive is the fact that the company not only won the overall category honor, but also scored victories in all three of the subcategories...     more

Part 2: Making It Work
Part 3: Developmental Milestones

Sun's Winning Channel Formula Is Its Partner-First Strategy

Mark Canepa, executive vp of network storage, Sun
ViewSonic's Chu
Display Technology
ViewSonic Wins Display Category Five Years Running
During the past year, display technology vendors have at times felt more cursed than blessed about living through interesting times. Plummeting prices, the shift to liquid-crystal displays (LCDs) and flat sales brought supply, profit and channel challenges across the board...     more

Part 2: Communication Is Key

Meeting Diverse Needs
A Q&A With James Chu, ViewSonic's CEO

Personal Attention Key To KDS' Channel Strategy Win
Business-Class IP Services
WorldCom Connects With Partners
A funny thing happened at WorldCom's user conference in Arizona last spring. The telecommunications giant was looking for way to help partners network with one another in a fun, casual maner, so it decided to take a page from a popular television game show...     more

Part 2: Building a Channel
Part 3: Fiscal Fitness
Editor's Letter
The ARC: A Tool For Picking the Best Vendors
This year's survey results show just how tough of a year it has been for IT vendors


Editorial Director Robert C. DeMarzo
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