Race to the midmarket

Don Richie, CEO of Sequel Data Systems Inc., an exclusive HP partner in Austin, Texas, said his HP storage business was down last year but that the additional investments in the business should help. “HP’s new EVA 4400 is a great product for the midmarket and even the low end,” he said.

IBM Corp., too, is making a $100 million investment in the midmarket this year, and channel partners stand to gain much of the benefit.

Rich Michos, vice president of worldwide business partner strategy for IBM, said this year the vendor would be investing $100 million in marketing, all in an effort to drive leads in the midmarket.

“With some assistance from IBM.com, we’re going to satisfy our midmarket objective almost uniquely through business partners,” Michos said. “That’s a profound shift.”

Michos said solution providers that think IBM is too big or too difficult to work with should give the vendor a second look. “If you’re not working with us, now’s the best time,” Michos said.

Solution providers said they have recently seen IBM increasing its channel focus.

“In the past year or so, I’ve seen IBM really stepping up to engage partners,” said Ryan Yu, president of Daly Computers Inc., an IBM solution provider.

Michos said several efforts are underway to help partners sell IBM into the midmarket. For example, the vendor’s new Lead Pass Decision Engine is a lead development tool that aims to provide better leads to a larger number of IBM partners, he said. He also pointed to IBM’s BladeCenter S, where the “S” stands for SMB.

Heartland Technology’s Sorensen added that it’s important for solution providers to increase their midmarket presence if they hope to incorporate such hot technologies.

“You can’t sell blades into a 10-user environment,” he said.