Important VAR Trend: Total Solutions
I attended a reseller trade show recently, and among the topics discussed there were security, RFID (radio frequency identification), remote monitoring, check imaging, servers, point of sale (POS), data collection, ID cards, networking, and ISVs (independent software vendors).
Sounds like this was a general technology show, right? Actually, this was the Retail Solutions Providers Association’s (RSPA) annual show in Reno, NV. For decades, RSPA has attracted all-POS, all the time VARs.
But not in 2006 – the channel is changing. Resellers who hope to survive long-term must sell total solutions.
As proof of that statement, ScanSource’s 80-minute presentation to its VARs included only a few minutes on POS, focusing instead on security, VoIP (voice over Internet protocol), networking, and remote monitoring. BlueStar, also a historically POS-focused distributor, announced that it is adding Itronix rugged notebooks to its line card as part of its new Mobile Freedom initiative.
John Soumbasakis, VP and GM for distributor Ingram Micro-Nimax, might have stated it best. “For POS VARs to survive 15 years,” he said, “they need to offer more than POS.”
These grow-or-die principles apply to all resellers, not just POS VARs. Among the benefits for the VAR who sells total solutions:
You will own more of the total business of your customers.
You will fend off your competition from providing their complete offering to your customers.
You will be viewed by your customers as their best problem solver. You will make the “V” in “VAR” more prominent.
Business Solutions has a long-standing belief that VARs should sell total solutions. VARs who do that will survive and grow. Those who don’t will fade away.
What can all of us do to best grow the channel?
VARs should ask their vendor and distributor partners about new or additional products and services that will help the VARs sell more to their current vertical markets. VARs should read magazines like Business Solutions to gain a full understanding of the technologies they aren’t selling currently.
Vendors and distributors should promote their array of services to current and potential channel partners. They should recruit growth-oriented partners and help them expand their businesses.
Business Solutions will continue to offer VARs a “guide to growth” by profiling VARs who sell new IT products and services, penetrate thriving vertical markets, and integrate complementary technologies.
I’m not the first person to notice this trend towards total solutions. If you have thoughts on this topic, please let me know so we can share them with our subscribers. And thanks for being a valued Business Solutions partner.
Jim Roddy, President
Corry Publishing