Panel: Customized Resources From Suppliers Can Help Partners Win More Solution Sales

(NOTE: This story was originally posted to CRN.com Dec. 1.)

A technology vendor that wants to do more business through the channel must be flexible and be ready to help the partner succeed, a panel of vendor executives said at last week's Women of the Channel event in New York.

When it comes to partner programs, one size doesn't fit all. Vendors realize that by embracing the channel, offering customized resources to partners, and tweaking their channel resources, both solution providers and suppliers will coexist and prosper, panelists said.

But first, suppliers must stand out in a sea of IT vendors that solution providers are bombarded with on a consistent basis.

[Related: WOTC Panel: Diversity In Workplace Is Key To Succeeding In Shift To Cloud, Recurring Revenue]

IT vendors haven't historically been known as agile or flexible. But the ability to change and change quickly can help capture the attention of partners, said Pam Johansen, senior director, sales ecosystem for BMC Software.

These changes don't have to be large, sweeping changes to the channel program. Instead, offering customizations for channel partners is a good start, Johansen said.

Having both the vendor and partner be more mindful of how business customers are buying and consuming IT will also help both suppliers and partners succeed, said Regan Ogner, head of global channel marketing for Intel Security.

Understanding the customer's journey will help vendors customize and build the right marketing strategy alongside their partners, rather than supplying partners with "cookie cutter" marketing tools, she said.

"It's the harder way to go, but it's definitely [presents] more of an opportunity for long-term growth and an opportunity to deepen the relationship between partners and [vendors]," Ogner said.

Fortinet is already doing this by giving its partners access to writers who can help them create unique content geared toward their businesses, said Krissy Kelley, Fortinet's senior director of channel marketing and partner programs.

"This makes it more about the [partner's] value proposition tied with Fortinet's," she said. "Partners loud and clear are saying that this is the most valuable asset we've given them."