Stand by your VAR

Sometimes it's hard to be a vendor

In the current economic climate vendors may be tempted to dump the things they feel aren't really necessary - such as their VARs.

But IDC warns manufacturers that they are "jeopardising significant market potential" by dipping in and out of the channel.

"Vendors that let them (VARS) starve during these lean economic times will be hard-pressed to get their attention when the economic tides turn," it says.

The IT analyst firm reckons that resellers are preparing for the worst where the economy is concerned, and are moving towards services and more mixed business models.

This could make it more difficult for vendors to penetrate the market, especially if they use and abuse the channel.

"The dependence on supplier-provided products has minimised, which has allowed many partners to be far more agnostic about their product selections," Stephen Graham, IDC VP of Global Software Partnering and Alliances, says.

"As a result, it's time for suppliers to reassess their partnering positions and consider additional investments and incentives for the VAR community."

What chance of that, we wonder? HP is currently throwing some more money the way of resellers way, after a botched attempt to sell more enterprise systems direct. It now has to repair channel relationships. But what about other big-name players, which haven't annoyed their VARs? It is the lot of resellers to jump through more hoops each year for less co-operative funds. So long as vendors don't try to steal their customers, they put up with this. ®

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