Muzzling Partners

Lately it has become quite fashionable among some of the larger vendors to clamp down on any and all partners that publicly advocate changes aimed at improving the all-important vendor/solution provider partnership. This is no laughing matter. One of the keys to any successful relationship is a willingness on both sides to listen and to proactively communicate.

One vendor that has recently come down hard on partners for publicly speaking out about problems with channel terms and conditions is Hewlett-Packard.

In what can only be termed a troubling sign, Rich Baldwin, CEO of San Diego-based Nth Generation Computing, one of HP&'s most respected enterprise partners, was for all practical purposes recently given his walking papers as the president of HP&'s Enterprise Council and then tossed off the council altogether. Baldwin has been a vocal proponent of positive HP partner changes.

At the end of the day, partner councils are critical in moving vendor/solution provider relations forward. And you need strong, proactive leaders like Baldwin on these councils. It is up to the channel chief at each and every vendor to see that these councils do not become parrots for vendor-speak rather than activists for fellow channel partners.

For my money, one of the best channel chiefs in the business is Chuck Robbins, vice president of U.S. and Canada channels at Cisco. Robbins said it best when he noted that any channel chief who wants to be successful has got to be willing to listen and make changes.

“The most important thing is you have to listen to what your partners tell you and what they need from you,” Robbins said. “And even more importantly, if you are going to ask them to give you feedback and you are going to listen, then you&'d better be ready to act on it. Because you will lose credibility quickly if you don&'t.”

Well said, Mr. Robbins. HP should take a page from your partner book.

Which vendors are muzzling partners? Let me know at (781) 839-1221 or via e-mail at [email protected].