IBM gets tough on ‘black sheep’

Wippermann: We can move very quickly through the steps to come to the final outcome

IBM has vowed to come down hard on authorised partners found to have repeatedly flouted terms and conditions in relation to the grey market.

Big Blue kicked off a worldwide mystery shopping campaign in the Autumn targeted at unauthorised dealers.

The vendor is using test purchases carried out under the campaign to trace exactly what point grey product has left its official supply chain.

Speaking to CRN, Stephan Wippermann, vice president, Business Partner Transformation for Europe at IBM, said persistent rule-breakers unwilling to change their ways could be expelled from the IBM Business Partner Programme.

As an example, IBM said the serial number on a hard disk acquired in a test purchase may signal that it should have been installed at a large UK corporate customer, according to the Special Bid Agreement.

“We can learn exactly when this item had initially been ordered by us and under which Special Bid Agreement,” explained Wippermann. “This gives us immediate visibility on which partners are involved and we can discuss what caused the product to end up with a customer that it wasn’t ordered for.

“If someone repeatedly ignores the rules we have set out together and refuses to understand the damage they are doing, we can move very quickly through the steps to come to the final outcome.”

Wippermann declined to reveal if or how many “black sheep” have been given the heave-ho since the campaign started and stressed that expulsion was a last resort.

“If you know how long it takes to build up a partnership you can imagine how careful you are before you destroy that hard work,” he said. “There are many other ways of getting back on track before I’d go that far. But most partners are telling us they do not expect us just to pay lip service to this.”

The compliance push is just part of a wider crackdown by IBM on the grey market, which also includes new price harmonisation and supply chain transparency measures.

“We are not claiming that by becoming more vocal and stepping up our efforts we will fully eliminate the grey market but we want to reduce it to a minimum,” said Wippermann. “If partners tell me the grey market is negligible, I will feel confident we have taken the right action to protect our partnerships and programmes.”