A whole range of issues and goals spring from this central task of winning mindshare with resellers, e.g. how accounts are managed, what training is offered to partners, how to counteract the negative impression left by other suppliers.

Resource alignment
How do problems and issues vary from small to large companies?  A channel manager in a small company may have to spend a year educating senior management about channels and their significance.  That is a battle that has been won, at least on paper, in most large companies.  But problems are more intractable in larger companies. A small supplier can swiftly ensure that its best salespeople talk to partners.  A large vendor with an international sales force numbering in the thousands will find this much harder.

Recognising and rewarding value-add
Companies with a product mix that includes commodity and complex products have to wrestle with the issue of how to reward channels that create real value-add. "How do I ensure that distributors with real product knowledge and marketing skills don’t lose out to box-shifters?"  This leads to functional discounts and extra fees for extra competence.  But this is not a big issue for companies that either sell only complex or simple products.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, channel people think that channels and channel skills are becoming increasingly important.  "Even in enterprise software I see a move away from ‘sell our product because it is hot’ to ‘sell our product because we have a relationship with you which will consistently add value’.  The relationship becomes more important than the product."

Do IT channel managers think that the companies they work for are becoming better educated and more sophisticated about channels?  

Most think the answer is yes, and some point to recent changes in mindset – often linked to senior management changes. 

Said one: "Senior management changed here about six months ago and that has led to a massive change in attitude.  We no longer see the channel as a sales tool, but as a partner who delivers solutions.  Before, we would lay down the law; now we consult before making any changes.  And guess what?  When 20 resellers agree on something it is a good idea to listen.  This change in attitude is a real shift."

Solution orientation
Certainly most channel managers no longer think in terms of pipes down which product is shoved.  Most have the humility to recognise that their product is transformed into solutions by their partners.

But it is questionable whether this new mindset has yet  filtered down  to the coalface of account management.  One veteran said: "Every time I see a new reseller I ask them ‘what are the good and bad things about your existing suppliers?’  Talk of direct competition, sudden and unheralded shifts in strategy and lack of trust remains a constant."

The Routes to Market journal plans to write more about these issues. In our next issue you will find a similar survey of alliance managers.

Meanwhile, look at www.the-rtma.com where there are forums on a wide variety of channel issues.