Lending Support

Vendors already doing so are reaping the benefits of their investments. In fact, many of those hardware and software companies topping this year's Annual Report Card are longtime veterans of the indirect channel that have honed their skills and expertise through years of successes and failures.

IBM led the way in the support category, winning or tying in six categories: advanced workstations and desktops, entry-level servers, midrange servers, data management software, Web infrastructure and software, and network storage. For its part, Hewlett-Packard took top honors or tied with IBM for its channel support programs in the mobile computers, entry-level servers, midrange servers, and advanced workstations and desktops categories.

Other channel stalwarts such as Microsoft, Cisco, Symantec, Tivoli, Computer Associates, Maxtor, Xerox, Sprint, Intel and Enterasys also received nods for their support programs.

Success, of course, has its price. Vendors must be willing to invest money and time into continually improving and enhancing their channel programs. And, as sales become more sophisticated, solution providers are demanding greater program depth. The economy has driven many less successful players out of the channel, and the survivors are realizing their value to both the vendor and user community.

"The quality of vendor support is significant," says Eric Jozwiak, president and CEO of WAN Technologies, St. Louis. "As a VAR, having a vendor partner work with us in presales...is a huge help."

Competitive Tool
Both developers and solution providers view support as a competitive tool. And as some solution providers reduce their number of vendor partners, the value of support from the channel is heightened, say channel executives.

"We've gone from almost being reactive to being quite proactive with [how we work with] our top 10 developers and software publishers," says Peter Anderson, president of Tampa Bay, Fla.-based Bayshore Technologies. "They've got to have a strong program and support what we do--which is evangelizing their products. It's very important that vendors recognize that. HP does a good job with it."

Presales partnering also can help solution providers close a sale. "The fact that manufacturers and VARs are working together gives the customer a great comfort level," Jozwiak says. "Cisco provides a great level of support--the best I've seen."

Although it does not use a lot of presales, postsales, technical or marketing support, Internosis values its relationship with Microsoft, says Gary Latham, senior vice president for operations, public sector, at the Arlington, Va.-based solution provider.

"From our standpoint, dealing with a relatively limited number of vendors, we don't really rely on them from a presales standpoint or an ongoing business-development standpoint," Latham says. "We try to develop relationships where we can become heavily invested in helping understand, if not drive, product development. That way, we're far ahead of the curve."

Access to this high-level support has enabled Internosis to work with the U.S. Army and Microsoft in a joint-development atmosphere, he says. "I think it's visionary of Microsoft to do that," Latham says. "A lot of companies have started programs that allow key partners to be part of their inside team, so to speak."

Other vendors are making efforts to create similar close relationships. Maxtor has a VIP Council that advises the storage vendor on products and promotions. Maxtor VIP Partners have access to new product information as well as priority technical support, a secure Web site and special promotions, the company says.

For its part, HP trains its in-house channel team members on components of working with an indirect sales force, says Susan Reynolds, vice president of the Solution Partners Organization. Within the past nine months, the company provided 2,500 hours of channel-related training through its Channel MBA program, she says, with more to come. The reason is obvious: More than 66 percent of its business flows through or involves HP's channel partners, Reynolds notes.

"It started in sales and moved into operations and marketing," she says. "We can't collaborate on business with [solution providers] if we don't understand how they work. We think our ability to work with our channel is a differentiator."

Symantec also views the channel as crucial for success. "Symantec has always been channel-focused," says Allyson Seelinger, vice president of global channel sales and strategy. "We continue to view the channel as playing an integral role in the go-to-market strategy and success for the company, and we're committed to growing our partner relationships."

Larger, multiproduct companies may also reap the benefit of being able to provide a wide array of support for multiple solutions. "One of the things our partners appreciate is that we can provide the one-stop shopping they need for a service and solutions portfolio," says Alex Yost, director of IBM eServer xSeries. "They also depend on IBM to deliver competitive and leadership advice and [the] technical enablement to deliver some complex solutions."

Programs Evolve
Just as staying ahead of the product technology curve is vital, vendors are unable to rest on their support laurels for too long. As the sales climate alters, technology advances and solutions become even more complex to sell, support and maintain, developers must continue to evolve their support programs to meet these new demands.

"In an ever-evolving IT marketplace, program benefits that equipped partners for success a few years ago may no longer hold true in today's marketplace," Seelinger says. "It's crucial to take partner feedback into consideration as you look to evaluate your partner program."

For example, Symantec is now partnering with Sterling, Va.-based competitive analysis firm Current Analysis to provide intelligence information to its partners to help them create new business opportunities and help in competitive situations, she says. Symantec has extended its implementation support around the clock for its Enterprise Security Partners and Enterprise Administration Partners, Seelinger adds.

And in May, CA unveiled its One Partner Program, which unified all the company's partner programs under one umbrella. The program was designed to help solution providers develop, market and deliver a range of complete solutions, services and education, according to CA. It also offers internal salesforce incentives to work with the channel and provides its partners with free technical support.

IBM also streamlined its channel support into its PartnerWorld program to make things less complicated for the channel. "Once comprised of four individual programseach with its own membership criteria, data infrastructure and menu of benefits, PartnerWorld now has a common set of membership criteria, comprehensive benefits and an integrated data structure," says Donn Atkins, general manager of IBM Global Business Partners. "Our business partners have asked for simplicity, flexibility and streamlined access to benefits."

Recognizing the importance of helping its partners overcome business hurdles, HP began offering a capitalization program through distributors Ingram Micro, Tech Data and Synnex in September, Reynolds says. "As we see the economy turning around, one of the things partners say they need is capitalization for growth," she says.

The program, which is open to all HP channel partners that buy through the three distributors, should allow HP to reach more than 10 times the number of solution providers it has helped with capitalization in the past, Reynolds says.

Cisco, too, is helping its partners improve their profitability and business reach with new and improved programs. In fiscal 2004, the company added 20 percent more field resources to support its partners, particularly those that focus on the SMB market, says Chuck Robbins, vice president of U.S. channels for Cisco. Next year, the company expects to add another 20 percent, he adds.

To help solution providers bolster their bottom lines, the developer added the Cisco Exam Prep Center as part of its Partner E Learning Center (PEC) to let partners test themselves on upcoming certifications or specializations. In a study last year, 95 percent of the PEC's users said the system helped them "accelerate their ability to sell, support and/or service Cisco products." Within the same time frame, Cisco also launched 50 more eLearning programs to include a broader range of topics, including sales management, Sarbanes-Oxley and business planning. The company plans to further help its solution providers in areas such as prospecting, developing and closing advanced technologies solutions. Cisco plans to unveil a program called Building Better Business Cases to help its partners close sales.

Leveraging technology to help partners is invaluable to most vendors. But at the end of the day, old-fashioned people skills and relationships may be the most important component of a successful support strategy, some channel executives say.

"We had an account manager who was incredible from day one," Bayshore's Anderson says. "She became an integral part of our business. She really helped us grow our business. She got a promotion--richly deserved--and the person who replaced her is really good, too. We feel like we have a person [within HP] who hears our voice--and listens."