IBM wants VARs for IPT
Big Blue plans to increase reseller involvement of its Integrated Partner Team
IBM plans to significantly increase the number of resellers involved with its Integrated Partner Team (IPT) during its second quarter, after signing more than 200 VARs since the scheme was launched.
IPT, which was unveiled in February, consists of a team within IBM dedicated to taking the vendor’s products into the lower end of the SME market through its channel partners (CRN, 20 February).
Jonathan Young, manager of integrated marketing communications for IPT at IBM, said: “We have a huge [IPT] recruitment drive running, and we are taking on new partners almost every day. It’s a higher volume situation for our channel partners here, and we are trying to put in place the best margins possible.”
Young added that in the near future IBM will also be looking to include its Express Managed Services portfolio into the IPT’s realm. This, Young claimed, will enable VARs to take advantage of the expanding opportunity for services in the SME sector.
Probal Sil, business development director at VAR Elyzium, said: “This is a good thing for the channel, but as yet we haven’t generated many sales through it because it’s too early.”
Tony Kingston, sales and marketing manager at IBM VAR Deverill, said: “Hewlett-Packard [HP] is the only other vendor going after the SME market via the channel, so IBM is probably going up against HP.”