Winds of change in the channel

Innovation and efficiency is key

The channel will evolve as the lines between vendor, distributor and reseller continue to blur. Competition will force these entities to become more innovative and discover efficiencies simply in order to survive.

For years the channel partner has been the face in front of the customer, solving a multitude of IT related issues. This trusted relationship is vital for vendors to get their products to market. In an effort to increase margins, distributors are now offering more services through the resellers.

In the end, both vendors and distributors are competing for 'Top of mind' presence from the channel. Channel partners will be looking for solutions that are built on solid technology, easy to implement and support, and provide an ongoing revenue stream.

Posted by Claire Shaw, UK & European Sales Manager, FutureSoft UK Ltd. | 03 Jun 2009

Value-added offerings are the way forward

There's no doubt that the recession signified a turning point for the channel - can it now weather the storm with a persistent sales attitude, or does it need to adapt and streamline itself in order to survive? I believe the latter is the key to success.

The increased popularity of eCommerce, coupled with continued advancements in internet technology, have globalised and commoditised the IT market, breathing new life into a stale, sometimes complacent channel. In the distribution sector for instance, it is clear that efficient IT distribution has become far more than just shifting boxes. Real-time pricing updates, swift, even same-day delivery and a commitment to uphold brand values - particularly for those vendors that don?t have a UK presence - are now major business deal breakers.

Partners must embrace this new direction - despite the dark economic clouds that rain overhead - by carving out their own key roles within the channel, ensuring they deliver value-added offerings to meet tougher customer expectations, if there is to be any hope for future growth.

Posted by Nick Preston, sales director, CCI Distribution | 29 May 2009

A chance to drive out inefficiencies

History teaches us that economies run cyclically. Just because we are a young industry doesn't mean that the cycle won't apply to us as it does to other industries. There is a lesson to be learned from our peers in those industries: Examine your cost base, weed out the non performers - that's strategies as well as resources, trim the fat. Those in the channel that do this, and do it fairly and well, will be extremely well positioned to ride the wave of the uptick.

Posted by Robert Smyth - Solutions Sales Manager - Keltec | 26 May 2009

Its different but this will become the norm.

The channel has been a vital part of technology suppliers business since the birth of the industry; it would therefore be unreasonable to expect a complete demise, no matter how gradual.
However, rapid changes in technology combined with the current economic pressures pose new challenges as well as opportunities to the ecosystem.
There are ways to improve margins and generate higher revenue even in the times of reduced IT budgets. With interest in open source solutions gaining momentum, systems integrators, ISVs and VARs increasingly need to offer their customers open source capabilities if they are to capitalise on the opportunities out there.
This is especially true in the areas where clients are moving from pre-purchased ( capex based ) investments to consumption driven
( opex based ) systems, in short using software as a business consumable rather than as an asset. This is entirely predictable as clients utilise SAAS and start to move towards Cloud type concepts.

ISVs and system integrators can benefit from a reliable and scalable open source stack combining operating system, middleware and database and mission critical 24/7 support capabilities. By expanding or introducing open source offerings they can also broaden their expertise and portfolio of services. These benefits can in turn be offered to their customers to significantly reduce their IT costs.

Posted by Simon Cattlin | 26 May 2009

Hardware is no longer king

The channel still has a bright future but success for resellers in the year ahead requires a fundamental shift in the way products and services are sold. Hardware is no longer king. Today's organisations are looking to deploy software solutions because of its cost savings and flexible credentials. As a result, most enterprises are going through their datacenters with a fine tooth comb, identifying and removing any unnecessary hardware that might inhibit the success of Virtualization and Cloud Computing initiatives. Resellers have an important role in helping businesses go through this process, so expect to see the channel playing more of a consultative role in the coming months.

Posted by Steve Webb, VP Sales, Zeus Technology | 20 May 2009

Partnering for success

The channel actually has an opportunity right now to become more important as a provider of solutions and services to customers which increasingly demand the provision of technical services such as security and WLAN design. However, manufacturers and vendors need to make sure that they help their channel partners to make the most of current technologies, enabling them to implement complete packages for their customers rather than simply supplying individual elements which do not integrate efficiently or, indeed, at all.

While the business environment remains challenging, the focus of all companies must be to reach those customers with money to spend. Many smaller VARs are finding money for investment in training and development hard to come-by. The knock-on effect of this is that they are unable to develop their knowledge of new technologies in order to compete with larger channel players in seeking and winning these customers. While this is obviously a worrying scenario since it can only lead to a diminution of the channel as a whole, it can be avoided.

To avoid this situation, businesses both large and small must ensure they are taking full advantage of the expertise of vendor partners, particularly in those areas where technology is changing fast. If a service complements a product but the channel can't provide it due to a lack of awareness or experience; vendors and their partners must work together to find a way to offer the best way forward - this is a two-way street and as much depends on the vendor partner as it does on the VAR in this regard.

Ultimately, if there is no sharing of skills and knowledge, then the vendors will suffer along with the channel - something we are all keen to avoid.

Posted by Richard Hudson, MSSI Vice President, Motorola Enterprise Mobility business | 20 May 2009

Resellers have to aggregate technology to address specific business issues

The channel continually faces challenges from margin erosion, new entrants to the market and increased competition from vendors' changing go-to-market strategies.

However the channel is also highly versatile and will continue to evolve and develop to meet market trends and customer requirements. It is the growth engine to drive volume sales and extend sales reach in areas where vendors do not have a physical presence. The fact that personal relationships and expertise in specific vertical or application environments are very important in the SME market will ensure that the channel continues to be a strong route to market for us. They are typically closest to the business drivers in their SME community which puts them in a great position to develop integrated solutions to those needs.

Although continued consolidation in the channel is a distinct possibility, emerging technologies including Managed Services also enable leading resellers and VARs to diversify into specialist areas, delivering new opportunities for revenue generation. The most successful channel partners will be those who aggregate technology to address specific business issues so that end customers can streamline and improve their business processes at the same time as reducing their costs.

Posted by Andy Horn, head of SME, COLT UK | 20 May 2009

Channel SaaS

The channel is already evolving due to the pressures of the economic climate, the change in IT delivery methods such as Virtualisation and SaaS (Software as a Service) and the drive for consolidation by customers of both technologies and vendors.

The resellers that embrace the change, and accept emerging technologies, are most likely to continue to succeed. Using their existing knowledge, and responding to the latest trends, they can advise their clients on how to gain competitive advantage and maintain cost efficiency. Already, we are seeing a large number of resellers attracting new clients and developing strong annuity revenue streams, as they support SaaS solutions.

However, the role of the channel is changing. Because SaaS, as a delivery model, has nothing to ship, nothing to install and is far easier to manage, the vendor?s requirements of its partner has changed. It is not looking for stock or credit lines and installation services, but for a partner that has strong customer relations and for those who can offer an extension to the customers own IT resources.

?To be a true Value Added Reseller, the channel needs to provide expert advice, understand multiple vendor technologies, assist with integrations and become an extension to the customer's IT team.

So, the key is for the channel to adjust its position as a 'supplier' and become a trusted, and valuable, advisor. Resellers who follow the more traditional 'find and supply' route, without offering some unique values, will struggle to thrive or survive. This is imperative, as we continue to do business in a market that is more demanding on price and on the selection of technologies that will offer proven financial benefit?

Posted by Ian Moyse - Webroot EMEA Channel Director | 18 May 2009

Clarity is needed

While the channel is far from doomed, it will certainly have to change and evolve. The current model is simply too out of date and is no longer providing any real margin for any party.

More clearly defined roles need to be drawn up as there is currently far too much overlap and confusion about who provides what.

This will help to achieve a renewed focus on profitable business whilst at the same time reminding everyone involved that the key objective is to keep asking themselves what the end user really wants, something which sometimes seems to get lost in the array of different parties and interests.

Posted by Peter Titmus, managing director, Networks First | 18 May 2009

Smart resellers get focused

The IT channel is not immune to the current economic pressures and consolidation is both evident and necessary.

Despite this, the emergence of new technologies - particularly cloud computing and virtualisation - may keep a more focused channel busy and profitable for some time.

According to Gartner, the EMEA market for virtualisation will increase by 55 per cent from 330m euros in 2008 to 512m euros in 2009. This rapid growth should be welcome news to resellers looking to boost profits in these tough times.

The proliferation of managed software services within organisations is making IT environments increasingly complex to manage, requiring more support from the channel. Vendors like Novell have dramatically increased our investments in support of the channel transformation that is taking place.

Savvy resellers have already begun to improve their consultancy offering to help organisations take advantage of the promise of benefits possible through cloud computing.

I expect smart resellers to get focused and follow suit in coming months as the channel continues it's transformation from simply selling products to solving real business problems with unique and distinct offerings."

Dan Veitkus, vice president, partners and channels, Novell EMEA

Posted by Dan Veitkus | 16 May 2009

Focus and expertise

Resellers are clearly not going to vanish into a black hole anytime soon, but they must keep their efforts focused in the right places to support the longevity of the channel.

Resellers should sit up and take notice of rare growth markets like managed file transfer while focusing their efforts on verticals such as the financial and public sectors because areas such as this are where budget is still available in these tough times.

To remain viable, the channel must ensure they are experts in key pain points for their customers and be able to make recommendations that protect companies from corporate catastrophe such as a severe data breach.

Customers are increasingly looking to resellers as trusted advisers to help them get through this difficult climate so they all must be on top of the latest and greatest coming out from Whitehall and the FSA. Focussing on increasing their domain knowledge in specific vertical markets will keep the channel firmly in the centre of any sales relationship.

Posted by Craig Whitney, Managing Director, Axway UK | 15 May 2009

Distribution will evolve

Distribution has to evolve to offer resellers the support and services that channel integrators cannot deliver (due to either lack of investment or because the technology is too new or evolving at such a rate that the integrator cannot keep up).

Vendors themselves look at a more 'lightweight' model that empowers the distributor to invest more and in some cases (such as Zycko?s) act as an extension of the vendor i.e. delivering marketing programs, technical support, financing options, project management, education, and of course logistics ? and now, increasingly managing the vendor channel programs directly.

In some cases managed services - Saas/Cloud - are seen as a threat to distribution. However many vendors already look to their distributors to deliver SPLA programs i.e. A 'SPLA aggregator'

Billing, supporting MSPs both in supply of necessary hardware and software and supporting a market that will never go totally 'managed'.

Posted by David Galton-Fenzi, Group Sales Director, Zycko | 15 May 2009

The channel always evolves

The most appropriate answer is the most vague, in that, as it evolves and goes on evolving in different ways, then what the channel has to do is turn that into effective IT for its customers.

The job of the channel in my view is either to go to places where the manufacturer cannot go or to go there more cheaply than the manufacturer can.

If a vendor came out with some drop dead cloud technology then we would need to look to see where that is effective to customers.

The trick is to help the customer use it effectively, more cheaply or quickly and to turn it into an effective solution.

One of the basic truisms that somebody said to me years ago is that 80 per cent of what your customers are doing today is what they did last year. You are not talking about an astonishing speed of change, it is more gradual.

Over one five-year cycle, not everything is going to change; some things will change twice, others not at all.

I am quite optimistic that the channel is going to remain vital because it can give faster, more tailored and more useful responses to customers than any of the vendors I know. And as they continue to come out with all kinds of products, services and, most of all hype, it is people like us who try and drive people's attentions to what they should evaluate before they go ahead and buy something.

We read in the press that the internet, at its current speed, will globally max out in 15 months. Who is going to solve this problem? It is going to be people in the channel ? manufacturers will not, they have vested interests.

Posted by Greg Carlow, managing director, Repton | 14 May 2009

Lines will become blurred

I do think that the current form has a limited life because the roles of resellers and distributors in particular are going to evolve.

If you look at the value offerings from distribution, quite often a reseller could provide the same thing themselves. Plus a lot more resellers are holding stock and are buying from each other. In the next few years the lines between resellers and distributors are going to become even more blurred.

However there will always be a role for the channel, because vendors need the channel?s help.

Posted by Abdul Terry, business development director, Quadnet | 14 May 2009

Adapting to reach the man on the street

Organisations can develop new ways to deliver products and services, but if you look into the fundamental values of selling and the driving force behind the channel the fact is that people want to buy from people.

Particularly in the small and medium sized business markets, relationships are developed at a local level and this is why in the IT and the communication industry view the channel as a preferable route to market.

By working with the channel and gaining leverage from the specific market knowledge and relationships gained, the vendor can gain the local touch without overstretching resources.

There is certainly a place for hosted services, but essentially you will still need somewhere and someone to sell it. The channel is in no way dead, it is merely adapting to changing enterprise requirements and if anything is expanding and will continue to do so. Over the years the model has adapted, and now in order to get the coverage and be lean and mean a distribution market can add significant value by reaching re-sellers that we as a vendor can't always get close to, owing to locality and overhead issues.

Siemens Enterprise Communications predicts growth within the channel and in particular in SMBs as its recruiting more partners to increase coverage and in the mid-market space its focusing on presence and mobility. I see huge opportunity for growth and this only supports Siemens' aim to be a 75 per cent channel business in the next three years.

Posted by Leon Mangan, Sales Director, Indirect channel, Siemens Enterprise Communications | 14 May 2009

It's not all doom and gloom for the channel

In its current form I do not think that the channel is doomed. If anything I believe it is set to change and in the future, potentially grow, as many vendors and end-users will continue to need the channel. The channel offers a level of reach that cannot always be achieved through a vendor's direct sales force and if the vendor's products can be sold across the marketplace, there needs to be a channel footprint to support it. Think of the differing needs of end users in financial sector, retail and public sector and how their business priorities have changed in the last twelve months and how they need expert insight from a specialist - vendors cannot be specialists to everyone.

Another driving force behind the channel's future success is the breadth of skills. By working with the right partners, vendors have access to additional market knowledge, technical skills, services or solutions and key relationships.

There will always be a requirement for the key channel benefits, hence why I predict channel survival and growth over the long-term rather than doom. However, the days of mere fulfillment are over and it is the partners that add value and have the long term relationships that will prosper. In these times, extra value will make partners stand out from the crowd. There will be consolidation in this market causing the channel to change in form but not decrease in value.

At CA we remain channel focused and we continue to expand the channel as part of our central strategy.

Posted by Tamar Brooks, Channel Sales Director, UK and Ireland, CA | 13 May 2009

Extension of a sales force

I don't believe that the channel will go away for several reasons. Fundamentally, the channel acts as extension of a sales force and plays a major role in identifying and fulfilling small and medium projects.

It also conducts a critical role at servicing the after market. And when it comes to new technology introductions, it is the channel that has the skills to support early adopters and provide routes to market for new solutions.

Posted by Henrik Hansen, EMEA marketing director at QLogic | 13 May 2009

Service and Innovation

The channel will continue to exist and play an important role. But its key for the channel and for vendors to continue to offer value added services and innovation.

In the IT security industry for example, the changing nature and burgeoning quantity of threats is creating a number of new challenges for organisations of all sizes. The growth in the volume of malware is phenomenal while the burden on IT operations to protect end-points is rapidly increasing. During these challenging times, organisations are looking for support to secure their digital assets. For the channel, this means a new response is needed to deliver market-leading data protection and data loss prevention as well as state-of-the-art endpoint protection solutions. This response are top-notch security products and the best available service.

In addition, hosted security services (Saas) will bring significant value to both partners and SMB businesses in terms of reduced upfront costs and faster, more cost-effective implementation. In light of the current economic downturn, this model is now very appealing, and with the threat landscape changing rapidly, hosted services can quickly be scaled or upgraded to meet changing security requirements, simply by increasing or decreasing the seat number of the subscription.

Posted by Anthony O'Mara, Associate VP EMEA at Trend Micro | 13 May 2009

Keep adding value

I believe the channel will always be there in one guise or another. It will always be geographically closer to many customers and will be in a better position to have closer relationships with the end users. However the days of sell and run are long gone. With the current climate this sector's channel, as with many other industries, will have to add more value, provide greater support and adapt. We are positioning our ESET to enable them to do so.

Posted by Quinton Watts, vice president of marketing, ESET UK | 12 May 2009

We are all doomed. . . or are we?

Within any economic downturn there will be winners and losers, from history it is clear that those companies that maintain core values are able to survive.

The key to success will be creativity both from the vendors and resellers alike. For many years it has been thought by most that the channel is doomed and vendors have an opportunity to try and deal directly.

However it is also clear that the channel still offer a great deal of value and it those vendors that truly understand this and nurture this that will reap the benefits.

Rather than vendors looking for a quick buck by cherry picking the best deals and cutting out the channel we should be looking at ways to further enhance the channel and the value it has to offer, in tough times we should be working together both harder and smarter to maximise every opportunity there is.

The channel is dead, long live the channel.

Posted by Andrew Brown, sales manager, Northern Europe, at C2C | 12 May 2009

Colaborate with Partners

When you hear about Doom and Gloom in the channel automatically we get into a frantic panic and blame it on the economy.

It's just an excuse we should be taking this opportuntiy to put our foot on the accelerator and keep driving our businesses forward, Here at ITDealer we've been supplying Data services (Business Intelligence) for over eight years which is an important part of measuring ROI in any given business model.

If the channel colaborate and work together everyone becomes a winner, provide training, support, added value to your customers, more importantly look after them, as long as we follow these basic principles im sure we can weather the storm.

Posted by Rupesh Vara, Senior Sales Manager, ITDealer.com | 12 May 2009

Change brings potential for boom, not doom

The channel is nowhere near being doomed, provided it is not averse to change. While vendors create solutions, only the channel has the expert market and customer knowledge that allows them to be sold on.

It is that knowledge of the market alongside assistance from vendor partners that has driven many channel players to instigate change, and move away from traditional box-shifting towards selling services to their customers.

As business' trust in services like hosted desktops and hosted storage continues to increase, the channel has a real opportunity to transform their business models from re-selling hardware and software to reselling services, providing potential for recurring revenue streams that was not available through simple 'box' sales. In order to sell though, the channel must understand the benefits of services as a safe, secure and convenient way of a business running IT without the usual headaches, and it is the vendors' responsibility to ensure the channel understands the technological advances in order to thoroughly explain their benefits to the customer.

The channel's not doomed but, as with every good business model, it needs to make sure it knows what the customer wants, before the customer does, and education has a key role to play in that. If the channel realises that it?s infrastructure and Software-as-a-Service that customers want to be able to use on demand, then it will prosper for many years to come.

Posted by David Pratt, COO, ThinkGrid | 12 May 2009

Integrating the integrators

It is going to be interesting. We have seen the emergence of MSPs; we obviously have the big boys, but I have seen an increase in second and third tier MSPs that are regional and also those that specialise vertically.

I think the channel is going to change. There will be fewer integrators as smaller players will be swallowed by the bigger boys. There will be fewer smaller integrators and resellers and lots of big service providers.

I will not be surprised in five years time if the majority of services are offered on demand. Software-as-a-service, cloud computing - it will be about being able to get what you need, when you need it, rather than having to go out and buy your own infrastructure.

There is also a significant freeware movement which will continue to grow. Vendors like Sun and Red Hat invent a new product, take it out to the market and say it is free and, once people develop it, it has a community . In reality, what they are getting is in return is a million people developing it for free for them.

Posted by David Galton-Fenzi, group sales director, Zycko | 12 May 2009

Diversity is key

The channel is far from doomed. Partners however need be able to diversify and evolve their offerings to address customer concerns, and make the most of the opportunities available. There are two main conversations happening in boardrooms at the moment: how do we save money and how do we find new customers to increase profitability? Channel partners need to be very clear about how their offering will answer these questions. If they can answer them, investment in technology in will continue throughout 2009.

Posted by Clare Barclay, Director of Partner Strategy and Programmes, Microsoft | 11 May 2009

Adapt to add value, and embrace the cloud

The demise of the channel has indeed been predicted for many years - but in my opinion there will always be a role for distributors and resellers if they are truly adding value. This value could be anything from logistical, financial, and marketing through to systems integration and technical support - but each tier must be bringing something to the party. The minute a sales channel stops adding value it is time to remove it from the supply chain. The wider utilisation of enhanced IT systems (such as e-commerce) may also mean that vendors are more tempted to bypass traditional channels.

But, the continued globalisation of many areas of IT means that resellers who don?t have a worldwide footprint will want to leverage the skills and services of VADs to ensure they fully capitalise on these big opportunities.

When it comes to cloud computing and SaaS, while the channel may not necessarily be delivering a boxed product in the traditional sense, there is a good opportunity here for resellers can act as ?aggregators?- providing sales, business development and route to market for vendors. I believe we will see a continued increase in utilisation of these models particularly while general market conditions are tough and customers want to pay through monthly or quarterly billings (based on usage).

I think more and more channels will evolve to become true service providers. As end users continue to outsource parts of their IT, the demand will be for partners to deliver solutions rather than point products. IT resellers may not have all the necessary skills to deliver an ?end-to-end? solution to their customers, so partnerships in the channel will become increasingly important. These partnerships could well be with other resellers or with value-added distributors who will work in the background.

Posted by David Ellis, director e-security, COMPUTERLINKS | 11 May 2009

Far from doomed

The three biggest challenges for the channel will be constrained credit availability, need to reduce costs in a reduced demand environment and
the channel adding value by providing IT solutions to improve end user
businesses. I think it is inevitable that this will drive consolidation
particularly at disributor and manufacturer level but that the current channel structure is capable of adapting and evolving to meet these
challenges. The channel is far from being doomed!!!

Posted by Andy Gass, managing director, Computer 2000 | 08 May 2009

Partners need to be trained and ready

The channel is not doomed as we will not allow it to be doomed. The VMware ecosystem must work together to offer the right set of tools and provide bigger consultancy approached solutions. This is something VMware has been working on, through initiatives such as our Partner University and virtual campus. Partners need to be trained and ready - we will continue to drive such initiatives to keep resellers in the market.

Posted by Marc Groetelaars, director EMEA North partner organisation at VMware | 08 May 2009

Learn to define ROI

The channel is definitely not doomed as both customers and resellers are looking to extend their solutions.

Programmes such as VMware?s Affiliate Partner Programme allow a customer to take on a more complex solution ? The programme allows technology partners to work with VMware to take the complexity out. As more customers choose to implement virtualisation for more complex tasks, they need people that can easily define ROI and people that are in a position where they can put together solutions from several companies.

Resellers that skill up will be fine.

Posted by Roger Baskerville, vice president EMEA of Vizioncore | 08 May 2009

Channel bread and butter

The channel as it stands today is a structure as much formed by the free market as by the major players within it.

Due to the impact of the former force it will continue to evolve and adapt as it always has.

I don't see a revolutionary change to an alternative model coming anytime
soon.

New routes to market will emerge and the dominance of existing ones will alter but after 10,000 years, we're still happy to buy our bread from someone else.

Posted by Glenn Morrison, managing director, Upgrade Options | 06 May 2009

Prove your ROI

We have a generation of purchasers now who are used to a market where ROI has to be proven. There is no such thing as a maintenance renewal anymore, even if you have an excellent service record and have not missed an SLA, you go back into a tender and that is a strain on sales staff.

Organisations that cannot do that will suffer. Revenues are not linear anymore and even our own Government cannot predict GDP. Alistair Darling has talked about a U-shaped recession, but we are preparing for an L-shaped recession.

We are going to see a sort out where those that can afford to play will be playing while others will become acquisition targets or will disappear. Integrators that have a strong annuity base can afford to ride the waves.

Posted by Nick Roullier, UK managing director, Datapoint | 06 May 2009

Service challenge is still ahead

Without the benefit of access to the Oracle of Delphi it is difficult to make accurate predictions, but history has consistently shown that the demise of the channel has been predicted many times over the last 20 years and has still to come to pass.

Looking five years ahead; While at the box moving end of the market consolidation among both resellers and distribution will continue. Coupled to this web purchasing (or price quotations) will continue to drive margins down and players out of the market. So there will be less traditional resellers in the market but more web based purchasing option.

However in the Value Add space where resellers and distributors are delivering skills that the customer doesn't have; SME's through to enterprises (and SME through to Enterprise resellers) will continue to need and pay for that knowledge.

For example the National Gateway security survey showed that in security purchasing price was the fourth most important issue on purchasing, behind performance, ease use AND reseller/supplier knowledge. Interestingly web purchasing came bottom of the list. So my forecast is that the knowledge based part of the channel (distribution and reseller) will continue - even as consolidation removes players other players will thrive and prosper.

However one area where there will be changes in how the channel works is in the evolution of cloud computing and the sale of products as services. This is an old concept (from the 80's now recycling itself) and will get a significant market share in the next five years. While I don't believe that it will achieve ubiquity it will present a significant challenge for the channel to migrate to a service based (rather than product based) business model.

Posted by Ian Kilpatrick, chairman, Wick Hill Group | 06 May 2009

Added value is key

It is good to keep a positive outlook in the current economic climate and equally important to realise that with recent events, the partner channel is shaking down. However, we do not have to be doom merchants as the channel clearly has a strong role to play because vendors do not have the staffing, the lower cost base, or the closeness to wide customer base to be able to address specific customer needs. Going forward the emphasis will be even stronger on added value. For example, at Thesaurus, we can and do bundle in an expert service days with a hardware deal to give a complete solution. The slices of the pie may be cut differently.

Posted by Mike Vinten, chief executive, Thesaurus | 01 May 2009

End users trust partners

I see no reason for the channel not to survive. It has as much value today, maybe more now. The end user needs to work with partners they know and trust. The vendors do not want vast armies of direct sales people. Even Dell is now looking to add channels and they built their business on the direct model.

Posted by David Hobson, managing director, GSS | 01 May 2009