How to Accelerate IT Channel’s Transition to Selling and Delivering Measurable Business Outcomes to Customers?

Western Europe Working Group

The Issue:

The IT Channel has always

[mostly] sold “Plumbing”

The “Plumbing” is going away…

The Challenge:The Customers• Want to discuss how to make their businesses more

productive, successful and profitable

The Partners• Have never had these conversations• Are [mostly] technical & not business oriented

The Challenge for the Vendors• Is HOW to enable the partners to discuss the things

our customers want to talk about!

It all starts with the Customer

requesting IT to be a strategic

investment to secure company’s

growth and profitability agenda

IT must provide

Business Solutions

which deliver

Business Outcomes.

Enterprise Customers need customized solutionsaddressing specific business needs

IT needs to solve real business problems through an end-to-end offering:

Understanding my problem Proposing an end-to-end solutionShowing me real Business Outcomes Deploying solution in transparent way with legacy systemsSupporting and administrating the solution for meCo-managing solutions’ life-cycle [monitoring & reporting]

SMB Customers need turnkey scalable solutions

IT needs to help:run my business more effectively [ROI]answer my needs in a cost-efficient way [TCO]allow me to scale up or down as my business grows or changes 

IT Channel Roles must evolve to deliver on these needs:

We suggest the Triple V model !

VAI

VAM

VAV

VAI

Value Added Integrator

Delivers the value

to the customer

VAM

Value Added Mediator

Mediates and delivers between VAI and VAV

VAV

Value Added Vendor

Builds the product/solution/serviceand enables the Channel

Customers

VAIs

VAMs

VAVs

VAIValue Added Integrator

To answer Customers’ needs, the VAI must be positioned as a Trusted Advisor

… which requires the VAI to change its Customer Engagement Model:

Moving from a Transactional/Box/Technology Selling approach…

…to a Business Outcomes Selling Approach

…which requires the VAI to understand, design, pre-sell, sell, deliver, support... end to end solutions

Moving from industry agnostic/technology skills to Vertical/Business expertise

Moving from point product delivery to end to end solution delivery

… which requires the VAI to focus and to partner:

Which key expertise should the company be based upon?

Acquire/develop necessary skills and deliver them « in house »Focus on solution enhancements with services that differentiate VAI from competition

Which complementary expertise should come from partnerships/alliances ?

Examples: business consulting, technology platforms…

Focus:

Business Model(s) Offering(s) Target Market(s)

Allows Clear understanding of core skills to be kept/developed internally differentiation powerClear understanding of target partners profiles and skills complementing powerDeep understanding of Target Market Business issues & needs competitive powerClear Position that can be communicated to customers/partners advisory power

Partnerships:

Depend on VAI’s own focus: Business Consulting Experts & Business Influencers Technology VAVs [multi-vendors!] [Cloud] Platform VAVs [eg IaaS, SaaS] ISV, SaaS, BPaaS Experts Business Enablers [eg Telco...]

Allow End to End Solution to Customer Focus by each Partner Mutualized Go-to-Market…

The VAI – Value Added Integratorneeds to develop a revenue & profit GrowthBusiness Model based on showing Business Outcomes to Customers and providing end-to-end Solutions [consulting, selling, implementing, managing, supporting, enhancing] through Focus and Partnerships

VAI

VAMValue Added Mediator

To answer VAVs and VAIs’ needs, the VAM must be positioned as aTrusted Business Mediator

… which requires the VAM to transition from being a simple Distributor…

Transition from a static & VAV-following oriented product stocking & funding warehouse to a dynamic, process oriented, business engaged

entity that enables VAI and VAVs to find & facilitate each other.

Understand, position and represent multiple complementary VAVs

Focus on deep engagement with selected VAIs that excel in specific sectors and/or solutions

... in order to mediate Value Outcome

Find ‘hooks’ & ‘enhancements’ to enrich the end-to-end solution

Build part of the way for the VAI by ‘packaging’ logical license schemes & solutions over various products/services from various VAVs

Thus warranting for the VAV the adoption level of his product into Next Gen end-to-end solutions

The VAM – Value Added Mediator

must build a value sales offering thateither the VAV or the VAI can’t orwon’t build and offer specific services to VAV to allow accelerated and in scale VAI channel recruitement & activation. VAM

VAVValue Added Vendor

To answer Customers, VAIs and VAMs’ needs, the VAV must be positioned as a real Trusted Solution Enabler

[1] Understand where the VAV himself fits:

What can be the end to end Solutions and Business Outcomes that are required by Customers ?

Where do my products/offerings fit in the Solution, now and tomorrow?

[2] Recruit VAIs by assessing their capabilities & readiness against…

New Value Selling model

Potential end to end solutions

[3] Develop VAIs’ readiness to intended markets and new solutions

Next to technical product readiness… Put new focus on “Salesforce readiness” on Value Selling aspect !

[4] Enhance Partner [VAI] Incentive Model

Next to product selling incentives…

Provide pre-sales “Value Selling” incentives.

[5] Promote and Facilitate P2P

Help VAI Focus

Help VAI Partner with Partners

The VAV – Value Added Vendor must look at the end to end solution

that is required by the Customers,

self-select where its offering(s) fit

and enable VAIs to sell and

deliver Business Outcomes

by helping them focus

and partner.

VAV

New IT Channel Models also mean New Roles:

Solution Alliance Manager

SAM

SAM Solution Alliance Manager

Senior Role [GM role] reporting directly to Solution Selling Business Unit

Defines the Solution GTM offerings based on customer target audiences & needs

Identifies relevant strategic alliance partnerships

Carries Business Unit Sales Quota

Both in VAVs and in VAMs

In Summary

IT Future:

IT must provide Business Solutions which deliver

Business Outcomes

Transformation needed:

New Triple V Model (VAI, VAM, VAV)

Focus & Strategic Partnerships

Catalyst to lead Transformation:

Solution Alliance Manager

Next Steps

Q & A

Join Lunch Break-outJoin our Channel Focus Western Europe Working Group http://channelfocus.baptie.com/groups/westerneuropeworkinggroup/default.aspx

VAM

VAV

VAI

Customer

SAM

SAM