LAS VEGAS--IBM will dedicate 1,000 salespeople to its partners in an effort to boost international sales and sales to medium-size businesses.
The company said the sales personnel will work directly with partners to generate leads and close deals through regional systems integrators and independent software vendors, which build applications targeted at small and midsize companies. IBM announced the staff changes at its PartnerWorld Conference here Monday.
In the past two years, IBM has boosted its investments in partner-related programs. In 2004, for example, it said it spent $1 billion on efforts to recruit and work with independent software vendors.
Revenue through partners increased about 10 percent in 2004, reaching $32 billion out of IBM's total revenue of $89 billion. More than half of IBM's hardware sales and about a fourth of its software revenue come through partners, Donn Atkins, general manager of IBM Global Business Partners, said Monday.
This year, the company intends to have its IBM Global Services consulting arm work more closely with partners, Atkins said. Services represent nearly half of IBM's turnover.
In its efforts to sell to smaller organizations, IBM has developed a logo program for application providers that write their programs using IBM's infrastructure software. Big Blue's Express brand of products--which includes versions of its WebSphere Java server software, DB2 database and Lotus collaboration software--are designed to be less expensive and simpler to maintain than the higher-end versions.
The Built On IBM Express Portfolio will be available to qualified business partners and will be linked to an updated suite of Express back-end software, Atkins said. Access to the program entitles partners to marketing dollars with IBM.
Similarly, IBM said it will give some partners around the world access to IBM's advertising discounts for joint marketing initiatives.
On the hardware side, IBM introduced a program called SystemSeller, which helps partners more quickly acquire "competitively priced" servers and storage in configurations that appeal to midmarket customers, Atkins said.
SystemSeller will be available this year for IBM's TotalStorage line and its xSeries, OpenPower, pSeries and BladeCenter systems. It intends to extend the program to global financing, services and its Workplace client software later this year, Atkins said.
Apple says it's got a third-party group looking for issues at manufacturing partners it uses. Read CNET's FAQ to find out how we got here and what the next steps are.
NY professor believes that a word-based algorithm can help bring together those who believe, with one glimpse, that they have found and lost the love of their lives.
After a higher-than-expected fourth quarter, the video subscription service unburdens itself of a pending yearlong class action suit and settles for $9 million.
Along with green-lighting Google's buy of Motorola, the Justice Department today OKs an Apple-Microsoft-RIM partnership deal to buy Nortel patents, and Apple's plan to acquire Novell patents.
Chamtech's spray-on antenna uses a nano material to provide a low-power boost to antenna range. The wireless-in-a-can product may some day bring an end to unsightly cell towers.
This week, we pass around Sony's new PlayStation Vita for some hands-on testing, check out HP's newest Beats Audio laptop, and debate the best and worst Valentine's Day gadget gifts.
EnerG2 opens a plant to make an engineered carbon that will improve performance of energy storage devices and make storage for start-stop hybrid cars less expensive.
Is this defined by number of employees, revenues or computers? If so, what are the parameters associated with the Mid Tier Market?