Kafkarkou: Our problem is that we have a great channel program, but there is not enough support or identity of our brands, and we have not succeeded as well as we need to.
Borman: You have to design up-front your product so that it's channel-ready, whether it's software, a system or services. And we have a checklist for channel enablement that [asks]: Is the channel priced? Is it easily configurable? What education is available for the channel? Do you plan on announcing this to the channel before general availability? All of these elements have to be there before the product gets released.
VB: What responsibility do you put on the partners to generate demand?
Grimes: I think it's the manufacturer's responsibility to create demand for the manufacturer's product. Now, there are some environments, if you're fortunate enough,let's say, in the OEM world,it's a classic case. If you can get the design win, and that end product is based on your technology, then when the partner, the OEM, goes and creates demand for its product, you're just swept along with it.
Borman: First, we've actually progressed a lot in the past three years in terms of what we call opportunity identification, opportunity ownership and then fulfillment. We actually have specific targets for client reps, for brand specialists and for partners that we review every week worldwide. And we hold each group accountable. We hold the IBMers accountable for the opportunity identification and to pass the leads to partners by region around the world.
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