The relationships between network vendors and resellers can, and sometimes do, resemble a marriage. Indeed, many of the business partners in the distribution channel might be guilty of keeping their eyes open before the marriage, and half shut afterward, as Benjamin Franklin used to say.
Chris van Niekerk, country manager of 3Com SA, explores today`s enterprise network demands and how IT organisations can better apply their practices to provide superior services.
Given the current economic climate, vendors can no longer "push" products through the channel at times when it is appropriate to meet targets or "dump" obsolete stock when it suits them.
The reality is that dealers/ resellers cannot afford to hold stocks of computer equipment for more than a few days, without it being installed and billed for.
It`s basic economics; inventory costs money, and with margins slashed to the bone in an increasingly competitive marketplace, these companies must "box clever" or go out of business.
At the same time, technology is moving on at such a pace - and the knowledge of new advances is more readily available to customers and end-users, that it is virtually impossible to "pull the wool" over anyone`s eyes.
No longer `them and us`
Perhaps what is needed is a complete overhaul of the vendor/ dealer relationship. Both parties must realise that the marketplace has changed. It is no longer a "them and us" situation out there.
There is a need to work together, to combine forces, to bolster synergies that may exist to the benefit of all parties.
The customer should be the focus and his medium and long-term goals should become the target of the vendor/reseller partnership. All parties should strategise accordingly.
Address the end-user
There is a need for both the vendor and reseller to address the end-user together. While this might be anathema to many dealers who believe that they "own" their customers and so have the right to limit access by any third-party to "their" solution, it is a logical arrangement if the design, development and provision of the "right" solution for the customer are the ultimate goals.
With the high levels of technology invested in most of today`s large corporate networks - including advanced security, communications and intelligence options - "going it alone" is becoming increasingly difficult for many network dealers.
To provide the levels of service that are being demanded today, resellers must "rediscover" their customers` networks on a regular basis, knowing what they are looking for in terms of products and technologies in use, performance enhancement opportunities, security holes and a host of other criteria.
Questions
To determine the customer`s future needs from the users` perspective, the rediscovery phase involves investing significant time and effort in understanding the network`s operational characteristics.
Many questions will have to be asked - such as how many errored frames are common in your transmissions? What are the network choke points? Where and when do you experience spikes in usage, and how does the network respond?
What are your application characteristics, and can the network support them adequately?
In this discovery mode, structured benchmarking is essential. The structured approach is applicable to any technology, as the aim should be to isolate specific elements of the network and pinpoint performance bottlenecks and opportunities.
But to do this successfully needs the resources, expertise and knowledge that few dealers - on their own - can offer. The marriage between vendor and reseller is at its mort productive and rewarding in situations such as this. In many instances the vendor has access to international case studies and research that can more readily point the way ahead.
In making the marriage work in these circumstances, both vendor and reseller will have to follow a handful of basic principles:
* Before any upgrade is attempted, establish mutually agreed testing goals for the final product. It is important to identify the devices that will be tested, but more so, identify the trade-offs between what data is "doable" to collect and what is desirable to evaluate the installation`s effectiveness.
* Implement a test design methodology that all three parties - vendor, reseller and customer - are comfortable with. Here it is necessary to profile the major elements to be tested and develop/determine the appropriate criteria for evaluating them against agreed business goals.
* Conduct prototype testing and validate the results. This is a step that is often obviated by the reseller as it is time-consuming and costly. However, the vendor will most likely have the manpower and facilities in place to build a viable test bed and create prototypical tests to ensure that results are meaningful and insightful.
* Production testing comes next. While this phase is all about the capture, compilation and recording of raw data, it is an ideal opportunity for vendor and reseller to cooperate on cross-checking the data and analysing it together.
* Document the data. The latest trends in IP telephony, security, 10G Ethernet, quality of service, storage networking and more, demonstrate a ramp up in the advancements of these technologies.
Resellers can gain much from the international expertise inherent in vendor organisations to learn how these technologies all can be measured and analysed with the end-users` best interests in mind. The documented data will be invaluable in these circumstances.
In this way vendors and resellers will maintain their marriages with eyes wide open instead of half shut.
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