Cultivate Multiple Technologies To Drive Growth

General William Tecumseh Sherman's critics noted that in his early career, he was so focused on winning the skirmishes that he neglected the war. Based on my observations at recent conferences, I see similarities with the channel. It appears that many resellers are in tune with their own technology areas, but are missing other developments occurring in the channel. For instance, at a recent conference, I shared a lunch table with six networking and telephony VARs. When we started discussing RFID (radio frequency identification), only two of my table mates had looked at the possible impact RFID could have on their customers.

As direct marketers continue to cause margins to evaporate for products such as monitors and basic POS (point of sale) hardware, VARs need to focus on emerging markets for new sources of revenue. Often, VARs that have been successful with that sales strategy are profiled in Business Solutions. For example, on page 42 is a profile of HDSNE, LLC, a POS VAR that recently increased its sales by selling wireless LAN solutions. LAM Systems, Inc. (featured on page 31 of the May 2005 issue) also increased revenue after it combined its white boxes with wireless technologies.

Enlist A Partner To Tackle New Technologies
Do you understand your customers' IT needs outside of the products and services you provide them? For instance, if your storage client is considering implementing RFID or VoIP (voice over Internet Protocol), are you savvy enough to help it tackle that project? If you're not experienced enough with a new technology to expand into it alone, consider partnering with an integrator that has experience in that technology. Alliances need not be restricted geographically, as several midsize VARs are active on a national level, especially when working in certain markets, such as government and education.

From talking with successful integrators, I recommend this buddy approach to compete with direct marketers and vendors. You'll benefit by having more feet on the street with your combined sales forces, and you'll gain the ability to develop more complex installations and get better financing for your joint solutions. The federal government is currently rewarding small businesses with additional opportunities in the IT development process, so building a relationship with several small partners could be extremely beneficial. Value-added distributors also help bring resellers with specialized expertise together. For example, BlueStar's Fusion program matched AARFID, an RFID middleware provider, with label provider The Kennedy Group and handheld solution integrator Data Limited to complete a complex waste collection fleet management system.

Offering multiple technologies, whether on your own or collaboratively, just makes sense in today's complex channel environment. Many of the large manufacturers, such as IBM and HP, realize how they benefit from capturing more of the total solution. Why shouldn't that business belong to you, the resellers?