Big Blue targets SMEs with new scheme
IBM set to make huge investment in SME business
IBM will unleash its latest onslaught into the SME arena this week, backed up by a “significant investment”, believed to be several million dollars.
Big Blue will unveil the Integrated Partner Team (IPT), a dedicated team inside of IBM that will take products and services and target the lower end of the SME market through channel partners.
Mike Bernard, SME and channel marketing manager at IBM, told CRN: “We wanted to removeany inhibitors to our partners, such as our level of focus on SMEs or integration challenges. Our channel programmes, such as System Seller will run parallel to this under the PartnerWorld umbrella.”
Bernard said IPT would be open to all partners that are selling into the SME market. “We expect to recruit new partners and will actively seek to work with partners who do not work with IBM already,” Bernard said.
CRN understands that the scheme will originally target around 200 of IBM’s tier two partners, and that the vendor intends to spend “significant resources” in terms of marketing and demand generation.
Simon Buist, business development director at VAR Apex, said: “IBM has realised that there are two types of business; volume where you have to sell lots and lots at low margin, and value. It has spent a lot of time on the value side, and it is now incentivising both types of partners.”
Probal Sil, business development manager at VAR, Elyzium, said: “It is good that IBM is doing something joined up for the SME market. This volume play could be a result of the Lenovo sale; any customers who previously bought IBM will still be sold to, but any new Lenovo customers IBM may not know about, so this could impact its share in the volume market.”