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After a fourteen-year stint as Senior Executive Editor at VARBusiness Magazine, in February 2006, T.C. Doyle changed hats, becoming the new Director of Intelligence at Amazon Consulting. While at VARBusiness Doyle authored several landmark studies on product distribution trends, and wrote over a thousand technology news articles, columns, features and profiles. He has worked as a senior industry analyst for Channel Information Services and studied trends in technology deployment and product distribution, as well as leading research teams focusing on best practices in the manufacturing industry. Doyle is a member of the Executive Steering Team for the ChannelLine Advisory Council. During March, I chatted with T.C. about the current state of the IT Channel. Here are some of the highlights of this discussion. Robert: What is the perennial challenge facing the IT Channel? T.C.: Keeping up with all the new technology, the new companies and understanding how these new technologies and the companies can help their customers. Robert: What is the competitive scene like today for IT Channel professionals? T.C.: The guys around today are the survivors, the warriors. They know how to provide more value through services and solutions. Their customers consider them as trusted IT business advisors and consultants who wrap IT goods and services around their advice. The players in the channel today focus on helping customers use the technology to benefit their businesses. Robert: What are these trusted business advisors doing differently? T.C.: They are upgrading their work force or replacing them with consultative sellers as opposed to hardware sales people. They are also changing the way they do business. They are looking to provide more services and are changing their billing procedures to be more in line with the needs of their clients. Annuities are starting to replace the typical model where they sold products and then tried to charge for service calls. Robert: How has the playing field changed? T.C.: There are new complexities and new competitors. The offshore offerings of services and solutions have totally changed the cost structures. Vendors have to find new compensation models that fit their needs and the needs of these new trusted business advisors. Customers, especially in the underserved small business market are facing data access needs, regulatory and compliance issues, wireless, security, data management problems and so on. Robert: Do the vendors realize this? T.C.: Yes. The CEOs of the major vendors have a true appreciation and understanding of the value that the channel provides. Some get it. They understand what it costs to support the channel and the importance of doing so. Others still don't get it. Robert: Who gets it? T.C.: Microsoft does. So do IBM and Cisco. People like Chambers and Ballmer are channel savvy and get it. It trickles from the top down. Hewlett-Packard was too reliant on the Internet and fighting Dell. Now, they are turning things around and doing the right things. Among certain partners, HP is unrivaled. They have plans in place that reward investment, contribution and ingenuity. Others talk about it. They invest, study and measure the channel as if it were a science. They do brush strokes, providing the minimum possible to support the channel and the new models and then they are disappointed with the lack of results. Robert: What vendors are coming to the table? T.C.: McAfee is saying a lot of good things. Samsung continues to differentiate itself in a crowded market and Acer is just so aggressive - they want channel allies. Robert: And to end on what everybody in the channel always want to talk about & your thoughts on Dell? T.C.: Operationally they are an excellent company. However, their channel policies are rudimentary to be kind and awful to be truthful. Going forward, Dell's problem is that what they do well is becoming less of a differentiator. Getting a PC to your desk configured the way you want is not that much of a challenge anymore. They can try to offer more service and support or become more of a solutions company. They need to work with allies better (channel members) and operate like true partners. A well-known channel advocate, Robert Cohen is the founder and president of Integrated mar.com, publishers of eChannelLine and the executive director of the ChannelLine Advisory Council. Since 1980 he has worked with more than 300 IT vendors, distributors and resellers in developing and implementing strategic go-to-market programs, using a variety of direct, channel and hybrid models.
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