Strike That Word

The word is meaningless in terms of what value a solution provider brings to a vendor—there is no such thing as a solution provider that is exclusive to a single vendor. There is no vendor that, no matter how broad its breadth of products, can offer a complete solution on its own. Too often exclusivity is equated with loyalty, leading to even greater confusion and angst. The infamous enigma wrapped in a riddle.

Hewlett-Packard CEO Mark Hurd raised the issue of exclusivity last year with his pledge to double down on partners committed to selling complete HP solutions. He clarified that stance somewhat in an interview with CRN two weeks ago. “We think it’s easier if you’re 100 percent dedicated to HP, but the world isn’t 100 percent HP,” Hurd said. “We’d like it to be … but we have to deal with a world that’s mixed. But partners have to decide.”

Many of HP’s best and largest partners believe that exclusivity to HP gives the vendor little, if any, advantage in the market. “I don’t believe that’s true or even relevant to the conversation,” one HP Platinum partner told me last week. “It’s all about how much value a channel partner brings, and many nonexclusive partners have the advantage of truly being able to compete in a heterogeneous environment. Over 18 years, I’ve seen the pendulum swing back and forth between exclusive and non-exclusive, but it’s all about the value.”

Another HP Platinum partner worries that constant talk about exclusivity sends the wrong message to partners and customers. “What does Hurd think of large VARs who are growing their HP business by 20 percent annually and who sell complete HP solutions in HP opportunities but who also have large practices in Sun, EMC and IBM?” the solution provider asked. “The message is mixed in the marketplace in that he might not value these businesses as highly because they sell competing vendors’ products.”

The power of HP’s or any other vendor’s channel partners is that when crafting a solution, they select the best building blocks available. Solution providers know that approach rings true with customers and carries far more weight in the market that any boast of exclusivity to any one particular vendor.

What’s your take on exclusivity? Let me know at (715) 282-6561 or via e-mail at [email protected].