|
|
|
16 Mar 2010
Casualties of IBM’s move to a 'controlled distribution' model for software have been offered a helping hand by one of the vendor’s most highly certified partners.
Two months ago, Big Blue launched Software Value Plus (SVP), a new programme raising the bar of accreditation for Lotus, Tivoli, Websphere, Rational and DB2 and the 11 product groups across the brands.
Under the new strategy, only those partners who beef up their sales and technical skills will retain access to each product affected.
Further reading
In the expectation that not everyone will make the extra investment, IBM Premier Business Partner Maywood Solutions has offered to step in and has emailed fellow partners to advertise its services.
According to the email, its Partner Plus service is designed to “assist IBM Business Partners who are unable to fulfil sales in SVP areas for which they are currently uncertified”.
Founded in 2003, £10m outfit Maywood bills itself as one of Europe’s most highly certified Premier Business Partners, with certifications across all 11 SVP groups.
In a statement to CRN, Adrian Keeling, managing director of Maywood, said that Partner Plus was not specifically supported by IBM but falls within the vendor’s rules.
“We fully support IBM's SVP programme and believe it will lead to a more professional and skilled channel,” he added.
VAR Portal Partnership skilled up around SVP last year, but chief executive Shamus Kelly said he understood the logic of Maywood’s approach.
“The [SVP] accreditation is a substantial effort in terms of time and effort,” he said. “This gives smaller partners a third option.”
Another IBM reseller said Maywood’s strategy suggests many partners have not felt able to make the investment in SVP, although Big Blue said the programme’s introduction had had the desired effect of improving expertise in its software channel.
Paul Campion, director of Business Partner sales, IBM Software Group, said: “IBM is very satisfied with the transition our partners have made to Software Value Plus and is confident that the programme will bring benefits to both clients and partners alike.”
Related articles
In this video find out about the fast-growing Chinese vendor's plans for market domination and how the channel is its route of choice
Find out what gifts Acer has in store for partners for 2012 in this exclusive roundup of its recent conference
CRN's premier networking event is back on 17 May at the Ricoh Arena
Date: Thu 17 May 2012
Channel fighters preparing to square up once more on 24 May
Date: Thu 24 May 2012
The proliferation of endpoint devices within the enterprise has highlighted the shortcomings of one of the traditional approaches to data security
This Forrester report compares the costs and benefits of legacy email and productivity software with Google Apps
Dave discovers that rozzers are seemingly living in the technology dark ages
Mark Needham, founder of distributor Widget, argues that John Browett leaves for Apple with Dixons in better shape than when he arrived
|
|
|
Do you agree?
Have your say