The Right Channel Partner: The Other Side of the Gartner Magic Quadrant

Introduction

The recent UCStrategies podcast published on August 27, 2013, focused on the Gartner Magic Quadrant for UC, and it is clear that the focus is more about the manufacturer and less about the VAR. In my opinion, selecting the right manufacturer is half the decision (including insight from Gartner); the other half is choosing the right VAR for your enterprise needs. This post should help you fill that gap.

The Dilemma

Channel partners are a different breed from manufacturers. They require:

• Certified skill sets in voice
• Skill sets in data technologies
• Field implementation skill sets
• Business process skill sets
• Sales and relationship skills sets
• Professional services skill sets
• Maintenance and troubleshooting skill sets
• Management skill sets
• Expedite and escalation skill sets
• And more...

Some channel partners may represent more than one manufacturer, thus requiring additional certified skill sets. It's a complex set of skills to have, period.

Then add the different products channel partners are responsible for, including:

• VoIP Telephony and Voice mail
• Legacy TDM Telephony and Voice mail
• Unified Communications and Collaboration
• Contact Centers
• Web Conferencing and Conference Bridging
• NOC Services (if provided)
• Call Accounting
• Data Switches, Routers
• Cabling and cabling infrastructure
• Paging Systems
• Mobility technologies integration and support
• Carrier Resale for SIP Trunking, PRIs, WANs, POTS
• Peripheral Equipment
• Session Border Controllers/SBCs
• Emergency Notification tools
• E911 tools
• Videoconferencing tools
• QoS-enabled networking tools

These are MANY skill sets necessary for any channel partner to sell in today's market and can actually be a bit more complex when evaluating vendors.

Key Questions

So what's an enterprise CIO, CTO, or Telecom Director to do? How can one determine the strength of the vendor, and if the vendor is the "right" pick for you and your organization? There are some key areas/questions you can focus on that can get you to the end game. They include:

• What is the size of your project? What experience, customer base does the channel partner have in your line size?
• What is the scope of your project? How many of the technical above areas above do you require skill sets based on the possible technical areas cited earlier?
• How many certified technicians and certified professional services skill sets does the vendor offer?
• What are the VAR's SLAs for responding to major and minor outages?
• What kind of parts availability does the VAR maintain?
• What is the VAR's geographic reach and can they support most/all of your enterprise locations?
• Does the VAR or manufacturer offer NOC services?
• Can the VAR provide references and experience in your vertical market?
• How long has the VAR been in business?
• What is the VAR's general reputation?
• What are the VAR's annual sales?
• What is the VAR's range of services offered?
• What is the VAR's size and staff profile?
• What is the VAR's manufacturer status (Silver, Gold, Platinum, etc. - note that different manufacturer's vendor status can be different, i.e., Gold for manufacturer 'A' may have different requirements than Gold for manufacturer 'B')?

These questions above are a starting point for evaluation.

Two Key Areas

There are two significant areas you can start with when evaluating different manufacturers and VARs:

1. What are the manufacturer's sweet spots in technology and in line size? Manufacturers strong in the 500- to 1,000-line size may not be as strong in the 10,000-line size. Some may be stronger in your UCC or Contact Center requirements than others.
    
2. VARs are always best at their core competencies. Once you take a VAR outside their core competency, the skills are less, and then pricing, delivery, resources, programming, testing, implementation, troubleshooting, are all that more difficult. VARs are quickly moving to engaging partners now or fill the void of those skill sets that are not part of their core competency, which as long as there are SLAs and a strong partnership agreement associated with that VAR, that's a good thing.

A Lesser Known Rule and Approach

One lesser known rule in the industry is this:

"The VAR who registers the client opportunity first with the manufacturer is the VAR who gets the greatest discounts."

As part of a sales process this "rule" has been defacto for many of the manufacturers for years now.

This lesser known rule has become increasingly challenging with our enterprise clients. Enterprise clients do not want the manufacturer/VAR controlling the process and want to make a choice based upon the best manufacturer/VAR combination that will serve their needs the best. In the end, in my opinion, the best manufacturer/VAR is also the best solution for the enterprise customer. After all, it's a 7-10 year decision for the manufacturer, and getting the best VAR up front will ease the "pain" of implementation and maintenance.

For our mid-to-large enterprise clients, we have leveraged a method which can quickly get the enterprise customer the best manufacturer/VAR, as recommended below:

• We help the client determine which manufacturers they would like to consider as candidates based on their capabilities, technologies, feature/functionality, and line size sweet spot
• We demo their products and ask key questions (as shared earlier in this post)
• We help the client with a request from the manufacturer to prequalify a VAR(s) in the market that suits their criteria, including:
   
  • VAR Status - (Silver, Gold, Platinum) and how is this defined by the manufacturer
  • Technical Staff Profile - Profile of skilled, certified staff, including partners
  • Maintenance -

- Certified maintenance technicians and services to site provided by the VAR direct, or worst case through a subcontractor (for on-site) that adheres to the same SLAs as the said manufacturer/VAR and providing proof of such

- VAR's SLAs to proactively troubleshoot and resolve issues both remotely and on-site within "xx" hours for major outages and "yy" hours for minor outages

• • NOC Services - NOC services from the manufacturer or VAR or VAR partner
  • Years Sold - Number of years partnership with manufacturer
  • Spares - Spare equipment, inventories available
  • Experience - Experience of the VAR in the enterprise's line size and vertical, and appropriate certifications (with partners) in technologies requested, including VoIP, UCC and other technologies listed above
  • References - A minimum of "xx" references in your line size and vertical
  • Local Presence - A local presence within "xx" miles of enterprise sites for implementation and servicing purposes
  • Discounting - Providing discounted pricing that is in the mutual best interest of the manufacturer and VAR and the customer

From here you can get to a VAR representing the manufacturer that will not only be best suited to your enterprise environment, but also with the greatest discount.

Conclusion

With the market mix changing dramatically, even as we speak, selecting the right VAR to complement the best manufacturer suited to your enterprise is critical. Use the Gartner Group Magic Quadrant and a Subject Matter Expert to help you determine which particular manufacturers and VARs are capable of providing technology that best suits your needs, and use the talking points from this post to help get you a VAR that can facilitate the needs of your organization.

For the channel, your challenge will be to stick with (or expand) your core competencies and engage partners who provide the level of specialization and similar core competencies necessary to support your SLAs and service delivery model for those technologies you are promoting. Ensure that, for maintenance purposes, your partners carry the same or similar service delivery model to ensure the enterprise client is satisfied. In the end, you will be a better channel partner because of it.