IBM to create robust channel for services

IBM has of late been taking various steps to drive its partners and scale
them up. Over the last five years, the company has shifted its strategy to be
projected as a services' company and now the focus is on enabling partners to
take advantage of this opportunity.

Speaking about IBM's recent renewed thrust on the channel, Anoop Nambiar,
Country Manager-Business Partner Organization, IBM India/SA said, "The PC
business requires a very robust business channel. But when IBM separated its PC
business, it changed its focus to technology solutions, dealing with Intel
servers and Unix products. There was a need to re-look at our partner family,
scale partners and make them articulate so that when they speak to customers,
they are well-equipped to answer their queries."

In a bid to bridge this gap in skills that IBM wanted in their partners,
Nambiar initiated a number of steps to create solution-oriented partners. "We
built a team that would work towards moving partners up the scale. This included
providing certifications such as the Know Your IBM (KYI) and 'Earn While You
Learn' programs," he shared.

Last year, seeing the increasing number of customers who were buying services
around products, IBM saw an opportunity to drive its partners' businesses on
these lines. This would help their partners improve stickiness with customers,
and improve their portfolio and margins.

Under services, IBM created a huge team offering a number of packages like
Internet security systems, scalable modular data centers and Express Remote
Managed Infrastructure Services (ERMIS) among others, to cater to mid-market
customers. "Once the offers are ready, we have to invest in driving the
initiatives, that is, how we are offering a roadmap to our partners to grow,"
stated Nambiar.

As a result, one of the pilot initiatives saw IBM going completely indirect
in three cities in India. This was a big step in showing confidence in its
partners, since services have traditionally been a direct business. "The
services are new so we are piloting it in three cities. As part of this program,
we are spending time with partners' sales teams. We will take a backseat and let
them front end the projects," said Nambiar. He added that sometime this month,
they would launch their initiative in one more city.

With a total of 1,200 partners, Nambiar feels that while there is no need to
increase this number, they would be working towards engaging more with their
current partners. "From a coverage perspective, we have enough partners. The
challenge is enhancing the capabilities of partners, creating a stronger team
and investing in that. When our partners sell, a customer should not be able to
differentiate whether it is IBM or a partner selling to them."

Last year also saw IBM start partner sales support center (PSSC) which caters
to the needs of the channel fraternity. The center has 10-12 qualified engineers
who are certified to give pre-sales support to partners and has been well
received in remote locations.

Agreeing that it was not an easy task to transform the business model of a
partner, Nambiar also pointed out that he had seen many partners involved in the
PC business making transformation in it, after that division was hived off. "The
services' space is an opportunity to make revenue," he concluded.