Big Blue To Battle Dell, HP On Price

The new program, unveiled last week at PartnerWorld, aims to provide IBM partners with more aggressively priced preconfigured eServer and TotalStorage offerings for price-conscious midmarket customers. The formal program will be launched April 1 with 20 to 30 models including xSeries servers and Blade Center models, OpenPower Linux systems and TotalStorage disk and tape products, said IBM executives. IBM, Armonk, N.Y., also plans to offer IBM Global Financing initiatives under the program.

"Like for like product, we will be priced very aggressively against all of our competitors including Dell and HP," said Frank Vitagliano, vice president of worldwide distribution channels at IBM.

Elaine Lennox, vice president of SMB for the Systems and Technology Group, said IBM will be monitoring prices "every week, and in some cases, every day, against the competition."

IBM plans to back up the program with $100 million aimed at spurring sales of the new SystemSeller models through IBM partners. In addition, IBM is adding as many as 70 channel reps to work with partners to drive sales of the selected servers and storage products.

Distribution executives and IBM partners were hopeful the SystemSeller initiative would provide the muscle to win more deals against Dell.

John Paget, president of North America and COO of IBM distribution partner Synnex, Fremont, Calif., applauded the new IBM offering. "The concept of bringing a set of a few industry-standard SKUs to market makes a lot of sense for the manufacturer, reseller and distribution," Paget said. The success of the program, however, is going to depend on how well the preconfigured products meet customer requirements, he cautioned.

Leonard DiCostanzo, group vice president of ICP, a Staten Island, N.Y., VAR, said he is planning to tighten his partnership with IBM in the wake of the SystemSeller initiative. "This is a quick way to get a solution that fits a market opportunity," he said.