IBM lures Vars in all-platform bid

Dealers will be offered rebates and cash incentives as Big Blue makes a bid for top vendor position

IBM is stalking third-party Vars in a bid to become the top software vendor across all platforms.

As part of the multi-vendor programme (MVP), the company intends to lure Microsoft, Hewlett Packard and Sun dealers on board with rebates of at least 10 per cent on sales. It has already signed up nearly 30 Microsoft solution providers.

It is also offering cash incentives of up to 80 per cent around specific product certification programmes to ?ease investment?.

In return, dealers are expected to stump up somewhere between $2,500 to $6,000 to become trained.

Stephen Read, IBM software channels marketing executive, said: ?The game is all about market share. We want to win in the software marketplace and we?re aiming for no less than leadership. But to do this, we can?t be restricted to IBM platforms and we need the skills of the channel to extend our reach. The channel is also a way to move into small and medium-sized businesses. It?s a way of gaining a foothold.?

IBM Software is anxious to break out of its installed base as only one fifth of its European sales of $2.5 billion was derived from products which run on Intel and Unix-based platforms. It intends to boost this by 25 to 30 per cent by the end of this year.

David Stokes, manager of software channels for IBM EMEA, said 15 to 25 per cent of its overall marketing spend was being spent on MVP. ?We are seen as coming from our traditional Blue base so we decided to fence off marketing funds to develop specific programmes for non-IBM platforms. Eighteen months ago you would never have seen us do something like this.?

The programmes are being developed around product offerings such as DB2 database, MQ Series messaging software, Tivoli and Lotus Domino for Notes. The scheme will be rolled out to HP Vars next quarter and Sun Vars in Q3.