When IBM hosted its Business Partners at PartnerWorld two weeks ago, it spent considerable time convincing its audience to sell complete business solutions under the banner of its On Demand strategy. If IBM's Business Partners agree to do so, it could substantially change how they sell IT solutions to your organization, what they sell, and to whom they sell it.

To understand why IBM is trying to change how its Partners sell IT solutions to midsize companies, let's consider how most Partners sell IBM products today. The typical sales engagement begins when an IT manager asks an IBM Business Partner to respond to a request for proposal (RFP). This RFP is developed by the company's IT staff after discussions with the company's line-of-business managers and senior executives, and it defines in technical terms (rather than business terms) what the company needs. In response, the Partner submits a technical proposal and then waits to see if its bid gets selected. If it does, it delivers the IT products and returns to its offices to wait for the next RFP.

Under IBM's strategy, this sales process will change dramatically. Instead of responding to an RFP after a company has defined a business problem, IBM's Partners will meet with line-of-business managers and senior executives before an RFP is created. They will use those meetings to discuss business issues, define business problems, and propose IT solutions with all the hardware, software, and services needed to address those problems. This is the way that IBM's sales teams sell to large enterprises, and Big Blue wants to replicate that sales process in midsize companies through its Partners.

IBM wants to switch its Business Partners to this consultative selling model for several reasons. The following ones are the most important.

• Better account control and thought leadership. By transforming themselves from "technology salesmen" to "trusted business advisors," IBM's Partners can build relationships with business executives that give them the edge in any IT decision. They can also sell a broader array of products and services in their engagements.
• Bigger revenue opportunities. According to International Data Corporation, sales of end-to-end solutions to small and medium businesses will grow at a 16.7% annual rate through 2005. By contrast, traditional IT sales will only grow at a 4.5% rate.
• Opportunities to promote On Demand solutions. As Tom Stockwell explained in his article last week, IBM is intent on getting its customers to deploy IT solutions that, through technologies such as virtualization, can respond more rapidly to new demands and sudden business changes. To get midsize companies to buy into its On Demand vision, IBM needs Partners that know how to sell On Demand to business executives.

Since IBM's sales methodology takes considerable effort to learn, the computer giant used PartnerWorld to roll out new and enhanced sales tools to help Partners follow the model. Among the most important of these are the following ones.

• Competitive Advisor is a Web-based sales tool that Partners can use with business executives to determine whether their company is competitive with similar companies in their industry. Once Competitive Advisor identifies noncompetitive areas (for instance, the number of days that purchases are outstanding), it identifies constraints to competitiveness and proposes IBM solutions that can solve the business problem.
• Profiler for e-Business enables Partners to examine a company's level of e-business adoption and compare it to adoption levels in similar companies. The tool also explains how the company can achieve bottom-line benefits by deploying IBM e-business solutions, then supports its recommendations with case studies and other documents.
• The e-Business Collaboration tool is somewhat similar to Profiler for e-Business, but it focuses on the e-business functionality of individual IT systems and determines the business value of enhancing their functionality.

IBM is also encouraging Business Partners to get training in its Signature Selling Method (SSM), the same method that IBM's account teams use when calling on enterprises. Partners who receive SSM training can access dozens of detailed guidebooks for selling IBM solutions to line-of-business managers and senior executives.

IBM's Strategy: The iSeries Impact

While IBM's strategy has big implications for its Partners, it is also important for the iSeries customers with whom those Partners work. Consider the possibility that in the near future, an IBM Business Partner armed with the above sales tools could show up in your CFO's or CEO's office. If that happens, you will have to respond to whatever new ideas come out of those meetings. You may also find yourself in sales processes in which you have less influence over the IT decision process than in the past. How you handle those engagements could determine your future role within your company's IT strategy.

Of course, the vast majority of IBM Business Partners will coordinate their sales efforts with internal IT management before they call on senior executives. When they offer to collaborate, seize the opportunity. By gaining agreement on the rules of engagement, you could leverage those executive meetings to be seen as a thought leader in your own right and to promote IT initiatives that are important to you. As a result, you could find yourself managing an IT infrastructure that delivers significantly greater value to your end users.

To assure yourself of an active rather than a passive role in sales engagements, you should also take the time--if you have not already--to educate yourself about your company's business processes, customers, and competitors. If you don't understand your company's business, you could find yourself in discussions where a Partner--armed with reams of industry data from IBM--gains total control of the conversation. With a little study on your part, you can avoid such an outcome.

In short, IBM's new Business Partner strategy presents both opportunities and challenges to iSeries professionals. With a little upfront work on your part, however, you can leverage the strategy to raise the visibility and importance of your company's IT function to a completely new level.

Lee Kroon is a Senior Industry Analyst for Andrews Consulting Group, a firm that helps mid-sized companies manage business transformation through technology. You can reach him at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..