He called it a Program! Wow, that’s a change. Greg Davis vice president, America’s channel business for Dell, told me last year – "we’re not creating a program. We’re creating a value proposition for solution providers who want to engage with Dell, and some elements to the engagement structure”. At least that’s how I remember it. Well, last week at the Ziff Davis Channel Summit in Dallas, Texas, Greg Davis referred to the Dell PartnerDirect Program. In fact, in his conference key note, he said the word “program” many times. He mentioned that they are engaging approximately 30,000 solution providers around the world and that through the acquisition of EqualLogic, they believe they will have a strong program to engage and empower. I was surprised when Greg said “EqualLogic has a great program”. Not because of the program robustness itself, but because I didn’t realized that Greg would know the components of a great partner program. He mentioned that Dell will be adopting the EqualLogic people and the program and that Bob Skelley, vice president of channel development for EqualLogic would be running the Dell PartnerDirect program.

This isn’t the only change in Greg Davis I’ve seen in the last 6 months. Dell also launched a partner portal that includes marketing tools, financing and ordering capabilities, a training path for managed services and deal registration. Deal registration isn’t new. Dell has been offering the ability for partners to register opportunities since December 5, 2007. They already have $24 million in pipeline sales visible through the solution.
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CLIENT SPOTLIGHT: CISCO

Cisco Learning Partner Program
Cisco engaged Amazon Consulting to design and implement a value-based partnering structure and program for Cisco Learning Partners in North America, EMEA, APAC and Latin America. Cisco wanted to develop and execute a comprehensive, flexible and scalable program that aligned partner rewards with the value they contribute. Cisco wished to deploy a program that both recognized and rewarded Learning Partners for their commitment to and investment in Cisco both from a value and a volume perspective.

In addition, though they had three levels of Learning Partners, Cisco was relatively focused on working directly with a small number of top-tier partners worldwide. The partners in the other program tiers needed recognition and definition for their fit in the new partner model.

Amazon Consulting recommended a four-phased approach to the design, planning, communication (announcement) and implementation of the new program.
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CONSULTANT SPOTLIGHT

ROI: The Path to Job Security for the Channel Marketer
By Jay Nelson, Consultant, Amazon Consulting, LLC



More and more, the “R” word is being tossed around. Yes, folks, it might be time for another recession. And, guess what time it is for the channel marketing professional? Yes, it’s time to find a new career!

Why is it that the channel marketing department is often the first one gutted once times get tough and technology vendors start to trim back? Certainly, marketing is never a safe department, but channel professionals should have their own benevolent society.

I think the reason is primarily the economics. I have *never* worked with a vendor in over 10 years of consulting that has meaningful metrics showing the impact channel marketing has on sales and the overall business. Not one. Not the large vendors, not the small ones.

I know that if I was the leading channel marketing executive at a technology vendor, the first thing I would do is create a defensible economics model. It may be self-serving, but you have to know how efficiently channel marketing drives sales revenue and at what cost. It also creates a roadmap to measure improvements and ROI on new investments over time.

Of course, this is a massive undertaking requiring a greater understanding of how channel partners use marketing investments to drive sales. It requires an understanding of each different type of partner and how they go to market. It requires an in-depth conversation, neigh, “negotiation” with your accounting department.

What should it show? Well, it should show that it costs less to drive sales through indirect channels; not a lot, but less.
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About the Author:
Industry Expertise:

• 17 years in technology
• Previous roles in sales, marketing, and consulting
• 12 years directly related to channel sales and marketing

• Director, Strategic Alliances and Partnerships, NetMotion Wireless
• Vice President. MSI Consulting