Tag: Channel Dynamics

I’m not normally an early adopter, but I was one of the first people to buy a Windows mobile phone. And I loved it. It let me receive email, synced with my diary and contained all my contact details. Then Apple released the iPhone. And it took me a few years (like I said, I’m … Continued

Recently we were engaged by vendor client to help them work through how they would achieve the growth targets they were given, and of course willingly and gratefully accepted. Therefore I thought it was worth taking a broader channel wide view of what drives growth, not only in resellers but across the entire channel ecosystem … Continued

Recently we were asked to review the MDF program for a vendor who was concerned that they were not getting the best return for their marketing dollars. Part of the brief was to look at ideas that were “outside the box”, but could still be implemented rapidly across multiple regions. In addition, any solution had … Continued

I recently had the privilege to attend the ARN roundtable discussion where Dell and Intel were the key sponsors, and so much was discussed about the development Dell’s channel engagement and program. While there was robust discussion amongst the participants about Dell’s (and other vendors’) engagement, the conversation actually began with the changes in customer … Continued

Look up the definition of “customer” in pretty much any dictionary and you’ll get a definition that goes something like “a person or organisation that buys goods or services from you”. But smart resellers understand that their customers include another definition, namely, “a person or organisation that SELLS goods or services TO you”. I’m talking … Continued

It is a constant source of surprise to me how often Channel Managers (and I’m talking about intelligent, professional, and experienced individuals) inflict product presentations on their partners that they would never want to sit through themselves. Ask someone what they hate about PowerPoint, and you nearly always get the same answers (too many slides, … Continued

As the saying goes, two things are certain in life, death and taxes. That maybe correct but I think a more relevant quote given the current headlines might be: “Any change, even a change for the better, is always accompanied by drawbacks and discomforts” – Arnold Bennett Whether or not the Carbon Tax legislation gets … Continued

What a difference a year makes! As channel consultants, we get a feel for the health of the industry by the type of projects we are asked to work on. And over the last twelve months we’ve seen a real shift from tactical, short-term return projects, to strategic, longer-term projects designed around building strong sustainable … Continued

I recently attended the RSA security conference in London. Being part of the IT industry we always assume there is a technology fix for technology related problems such as a security breach of a network, server or system. As technologists we might look at patching, layering or even upgrading the hardware or software as a … Continued

We often get asked to audit channel programs and incentives, in order to diagnose why channel facing staff or partners are behaving in a certain manner. In many cases, the answer comes down to the way the reward system has been structured. Partners (like staff) will always look for the easiest way to achieve target, … Continued