Three IBM Amigos Who I Believe Make A Difference In The Channel

While it certainly helps to have a dynamic leader at the helm, it takes more than one single individual to push any company to greatness.

The one thing a CEO can do, however, is keep the company focused on a strategic direction. That direction first must be well articulated and dealt with at a level at which many top executives are uncomfortable dealing.

But even in those companies where the CEO does a superb job of articulating the vision, the ultimate success or failure of the company depends on the team working under that individual.

I believe the most important thing any leader can do is assemble the best team possible, help them understand the strategy, and then make sure the team has the necessary resources to meet the objective. Once that has been accomplished, what you'll find is that vision and execution happen at levels far below the executive boardroom.

As I look around at the state of the general economic climate in high-tech and assess which companies are executing well, I see only a handful of companies that clearly seem to be making headway.

One of those companies is IBM. This is not to say that Big Blue doesn't have its challenges or that its financials are as strong as anyone could hope. It is to say, however, that IBM has a firm understanding of its strengths, and it is focused on leveraging those advantages.

Some longtime IBM executives are driving significant strategies to gain share and are proving to be particularly innovative.

I'm talking about executives like Ralph Martino at IBM Global Services, Frank Vitagliano in IBM's Personal Computing Division and Mark Hanny in IBM's Software Group.

Let's start with Martino, who has held a number of jobs at IBM over the years,many of them in the channel arena.

Martino has that rare trait of remaining a great listener as he gets older and becomes more knowledgeable. Far too many successful executives stop listening somewhere along the way. It's his willingness to listen, learn and apply his knowledge that is driving IGS to partner with solution providers in ways it has never done in the past. Martino proves that truly smart people never stop learning.

Vitagliano, an IBM employee since he was 17 years old, has been involved in helping to set and execute IBM's hardware channel strategy longer than the Red Sox have gone without a World Series championship. Despite that, Vitagliano continues to show up at nearly every channel event, and does so to remain fully connected and thereby ensure that IBM is executing as well as it should be. The result is that IBM continues to work new programs in more places than any other vendor.

Mark Hanny, another longtimer who has worked in channel and nonchannel positions at IBM, is a soft-spoken executive who has always been committed to doing the right thing for his channel partners. He understands that by doing so, he can drive IBM's Software Group into places a direct-sales force could never uncover. It's one of the reasons IBM is a software giant.

I mention these three executives because I think we often forget that this business is all about relationships, which result in a greater understanding of the market. We could always use more executives like these, especially at a time as challenging as this.

Make something happen. I can be reached at (516) 562-7812 or via e-mail at [email protected].