IBM realigns its channel

By Siyabonga Africa for IBM

Johannesburg, 19 May 2009

For the first time in 15 years, IBM will realign its channel structure as a consequence of its revitalised business charter.

The company wants to increase its local presence, as well as that of its partners, in the 48 African countries it services, over the next six to 12 months.

IBM says in the current global economic crisis, as many large corporations leave the channel, it has decided to recommit to the channel and its partners globally.

Andreas Kerstan, VP of business partner organisation sub-Saharan Africa, says the company has decided to split its business interests into two regions: one focusing on mature markets and the other on developing markets, which include sub-Saharan Africa.

“Currently, all of our business in Africa is being done through partners,” says Kerstan. “Earlier this year, we did a global exercise to check our partner capacity. We were looking at how many partners we have and how they could address the market needs we identified.”

Each country will be evaluated according to the product set available there, the geographic coverage of the partner, and whether the market is large enough for any new business or software products that IBM would like to introduce, he says.

Helping hand

IBM CEO and chairman Sam Palmisano says the company will help its partners with training on how to sell solutions beyond the traditional IT buyers and reaching out to executives. It will also offer incentives for competency in IBM products and opening up innovation centres in the partners' countries.

Kerstan says there are only a few mature markets in sub-Saharan Africa and the market has not developed enough for IBM to operate directly in each of the countries in which it has an indirect presence.

“We have invested a lot in growing the sub-Sahara Africa region and SA will play an important role in our expansion plans for Africa. We have mature business partners in SA and there is not one who is not engaged in talks with us to increase our presence on the continent.”

IBM is driving a number of initiatives through SA, including the African Innovation Centre and the Smart Planet initiative.

Being smart

Kerstan explains the Smart Planet project as a broad discussion, which IBM is trying to have, on a global scale, with leaders and other companies on how to manage resources in a smart, sustainable way.

“How we see it is that, in future, IT will be used to measure all the processes and systems that manage water and other natural resources, so we want to get the rest of the markets together to find solutions for problems such as water shortages.”

Earlier this year, IBM announced it was investing more than $6 billion (R57.9 billion) a year into researching technologies it hoped would help alleviate water shortages in countries around the world.