'Their channel is a bunfight for crumbs': Top 30 comments from the 2019 CRN Vendor Report

With the 2019 Vendor Report now published, we recap on some of the best comments - good, bad and ugly - from respondents

In April 2019, CRN asked its readership to give a warts-and-all account of how their top vendors are performing.

Five months on, and the results are finally in.

The 2019 CRN Vendor Report reveals how 42 of the world's top tech vendors are really seen by their channel partners.

CRN Essential subscribers can view an Executive Summary here.

You can read a summary of the top-line findings here.

While some vendors were praised for their reliable and leading-edge technology, proactive staff and generous associated margins, others were savaged for being "arrogant", "obstructive" and "anti-channel".

Ahead of our imminent preview on the top-line results of the research, here we round up some of the best comments -good, bad and ugly - from respondents in the survey.

Can you match the comment to the vendor it applies to?

Good

"Previously, I would have scored them three points lower because they were inflexible, but after a period of introspection, they seem to have addressed cultural issues in this regard and taken on a warmer and friendlier approach to the channel. This has allowed greater access to meet with the team and improved engagement."

Potential culprits: Forcepoint, Citrix, Check Point, Symantec

"[They] always buy lunch"

Potential culprits: NetApp, Nutanix, Dell, AWS

"[It] may not be first to market with everything, but when they do get there, they do it right. They make it easy to introduce new technology and concepts to customers, and there's a trust in what they introduce that they've not jumped the gun and rushed into a solution that isn't yet ready."

Potential culprits: Microsoft, Dell, HP Inc, Cisco

"They couldn't be a nicer group - attentive, responsive and helpful."

Potential culprits: HPE, Dell, Cisco, NetApp

"They're probably my favourite range of products. They look good, work well and are priced competitively. You sense that [they] know the market well,."

Potential culprits: Apple, HP Inc, Lenovo, Fujitsu

"[Their] account management team are top notch. [They are] eager to work with partners to help win and develop clients."

Potential culprits: Citrix, Intel, Nutanix, Mimecast

"[It] has a very clear focus now after a couple of years in the doldrums"

Potential culprits: SonicWall, NetApp, Microsoft, IBM

"[Its] analytics, AI, and machine-earning capabilities are second to none, and they are making incredible releases constantly. We've only recently started working with them again, and my God their technology is impressive."

Potential culprits: IBM, Microsoft, SAP, Salesforce

"Products are very reliable and scalable. Product is constantly being updated at a high cadence to ensure it always has the latest technologies. The technology is reasonably priced and based on usage. Support is OK. They are a visionary - there is a reason they are the go-to tech company."

Cisco, Microsoft, AWS, HP Inc

"[It] is the gold standard for training. It costs time and money but the rewards are substantial"

Potential culprits: Microsoft, Cisco, VMware, Salesforce

"They self-generate more opportunities than most vendors do and if you have good personal relationships you will get passed leads/opportunities"

Nutanix, WatchGuard, Palo Alto Networks, Citrix

"Used to be a clear leader, but lost its way a bit; but seems to be fighting back"

Potential culprits: SonicWall, NetApp, Microsoft, Intel

"They have a lot of issues around launching things too quickly, but every so often, they get something right, and then it's so, so right"

Potential culprits: Symantec, McAfee, Sophos, Kaspersky Lab

Bad

"The channel is a bun fight for crumbs; you would be mad to start selling this vendor in 2019"

Potential culprits: Netgear, Cisco, HP Inc, Samsung

"[They] need to be acquired to get rid of all the dead-wood"

Potential culprits: Juniper Networks, NetApp, VMware, Mimecast

"[Their] education team is insufficiently resourced; the corporate team are frankly ghosts."

Potential culprits: Microsoft, Google, Fujitsu, AWS

"[They are] very channel agnostic, which makes sustained investment and effort in building their brand and our sales very challenging"

Potential culprits: Dell, SAP, Google, Adobe

"Market leader - yes - but supply has been poor this past year"

Potential culprits: Lenovo, Intel, HP Inc, Cisco

"This company is all marketing and no technology. Glitches and lies. The basics are fine, but you would be insane to buy this vendor without doing a bake-off against competitors first."

Potential culprits: Veeam, SonicWall, WatchGuard, Palo Alto Networks

"Great product and price but the roadmaps are not good and lead times can be too long. There is no consistency: we were advised three-week lead times and the goods may take longer or arrive sooner - just putting your finger in the air and guessing is more accurate"

Potential culprits: Lenovo, HP Inc, Dell EMC, Fujitsu

"[It has] no control over the channel and [is] very stubborn and arrogant to deal with in the event of a conflict. They don't appear to value the channel's input in winning deals."

Potential culprits: Citrix, F5 Networks, Cisco, NetApp

Ugly

"[They] are the big brother that you never wanted"

Potential culprits: SAP, Salesforce, Cisco, Adobe

"I've no idea who looks after us, but they've never set foot in this office. They don't return calls. They assume everyone loves them. They are wrong, wrong, wrong."

Potential culprits: Adobe, Barracuda Networks, Microsoft, Symantec

"[Its] channel strategy, that's a joke in itself - there is NONE. [They] are in charge of their own destiny and that seems to be extinction."

Potential culprits: Symantec, Avaya, Juniper Networks, McAfee

"The pricing is a joke now. Every other competitor has dramatically reduced their costs; they continue to insist on pricing three-plus times their competitors and wonder why they are losing big customers and market share."

Potential culprits: Cisco, Palo Alto Networks, Veeam, Check Point

"[They] are doing what they were doing 10 years ago with very little innovation in areas that their competitors are all over - security analytics, ML/AI, real cloud infrastructure security. Their end-point tools are overly complex, and their EDR tool requires [its] full end-point to be in place, which is rarely properly delivered. Not good."

Potential culprits: Sophos, Symantec, McAfee, Kaspersky Lab

"[They] used to be great - but not anymore. The staff are useless and are out for each other. The tech is clunky and leadership is shocking."

Potential culprits: Webroot, ESET, McAfee, Sophos

"Whoever was in control of the process of moving to [the new portal] and its specification should be hung out to dry - what an absolute farce! An atrocious mess and still not right even now, some six or so months later."

Potential culprits: ESET, Veeam, Barracuda Networks, Forcepoint

"They have the worst channel strategy I have ever seen for a major corporation. They are a direct organisation with a channel programme to resell. You are only as good as the deal you are working on. There is no acceptance of account control by the partner."

Potential culprits: AWS, Dell, SAP, Salesforce

"They charge us $500/year to be able to sell their products, the margins are pathetic on renewals, and they email our customers direct with pricing. I loathe and despise this company!"

Potential culprits: Microsoft, Veeam, VMware, Google

For more information on how to obtain a copy of the Vendor Report, please email [email protected].