IBM To Publish Channel 'Principles Of Engagement,' List 100 Named Accounts

IBM on Friday sent copies of its new Principles of Engagement, which shows its sales reps when and when not to engage channel partners, to those reps and to other internal executives to be "scrubbed" before being published to solution providers in the near future, said Lance Liden, director of competitive programs in IBM's Business Partner Organization.

The Principles of Engagement is IBM's way to develop a consistent approach across IBM's different product lines and brands and different geographies about how to engage with partners and how to go direct, Liden said.

"It's a big change for IBM," he said. "In the past, we've never dictated these terms to our sales teams. Now we'll document it. . . . It's not that we haven't been working under these principles in the past. We just want to make sure we're consistent."

The Principles of Engagement is one of 20 actions aimed at improving the ease of doing business with IBM's solution providers under IBM's Move to Blue channel initiative, Liden said.

Among the Principles of Engagement is what Liden called the Rule of Incumbent. "If a VAR is in an account, IBM will not go in," he said. "We track who is in an account."

Also included is the decision tree that sales reps will use to determine when an account should go direct, and when it should go through a partner, Liden said. "Our sales reps use it to see, if it's this kind of account he should work with a business partner, or if this kind he should go direct," he said. "We have a flow chart. But most decisions will default the business partner."

IBM will also publish its list of 100 house accounts where the company goes direct as the primary fulfillment vehicle, Liden said. "The list shows where IBM works direct, but business partners are welcome to go into those accounts," he said. "We let partners know, if you want to come into this account, that's OK, but we prefer you work in other accounts where there's more opportunities for you and IBM."

It will be interesting to see how IBM determines whether to go direct or not in an account, said Pete Elliot, director of marketing at Key Information Systems, a Woodland Hills, Calif.-based solution provider and IBM partner.

Elliot said that IBM's channel vs. direct decision matrix will be the most interesting aspect of the new Principles of Engagement.

"It will be fascinating to see that flow chart," he said. "And it will be interesting to see if it makes sense to anyone reading it. It could turn out to be a Rube Goldberg thing."

It will also be interesting to see how it works in the field, Elliot said. "IBM's hardware guys are good at focusing on the channel, but its software guys are more like cowboys," he said. "Then there's the services side. That's IGS (IBM Global Services). IGS is better now than it was in the past, but it still has a long way to go."

Liden said the Principles of Engagement will first roll out specifically for System X X86-based server channels in the U.S. because of how competitive that market is. However, the document is written so that it is easy to swap in other brands and geographies in order to ensure consistency throughout its channel business, he said.

In mid-September, IBM will start to modify the Principles of Engagement to include Power servers, storage, and System Z mainframes, while at the same time modifying the document to apply to other geographies.

"We want to make it clear," Liden said. "Our partners are the key route to the market. And we now have a set of guidelines on how IBM uses direct sales and the channel to fill customer needs. And we want to ensure consistency across brands and geographies."