Big Blue opts for tighter regulation

Giant vendor goes for a controlled distribution model to reward dedicated partners

John Lindley: The move will reward committed partners

IBM is moving to a ‘controlled distribution model’ for software and has urged partners to make the necessary adjustments before the end of July.

From 1 October, the majority of Big Blue’s software titles ­including its entire Websphere and Information Management portfolios ­ will be moved from an open to a more tightly regulated channel model.

Only resellers that beef up their sales and technical skills, and have closely aligned their systems with Big Blue, will retain access to those products affected.

The move is designed to give IBM more visibility of sales pipelines and to reward the most capable software partners.

IBM initially informed partners of the change in April, but this month warned that those who do not comply before August risk missing out.

John Lindley, business development director at IBM software partner Portal Partnership, said IBM had helped it to organise a boot camp for its sales and technical staff this week.

“Moving to controlled distribution will reward partners that are committed to building up expertise and delivering services and solutions around IBM software,” he said.

“Due to the extra commitment required, the more opportunistic resellers that stumble across deals will struggle to move to the new model.”

However, Nick King, chief executive of IBM Business Partner Apex, said the move would make life more “cumbersome” for partners.

“IBM is not providing enough training to allow resellers to adapt and has been a bit slow coming to market on it,” he added.