I’m tired of the attitude of many resellers in the SMB space. I’ve been involved in this space for near 15 years now and I’ve noticed over the past 5 + years a growing attitude that makes me angry.
In the overall grand scheme of things SBS makes a certain percentage of the MS revenue. A very small percentage from what I hear. Yet many resellers in the SMB space think that MS would be dead without them. They fail to realise that in the big picture we play a VERY small part in it. I’ve found that resellers in this space are more and more demanding of not only attention but also of the “everything for free” mentality. Interestingly enough, I’ve had exposure to some of Australia’s largest SMB resellers and the manner in which they conduct themselves compared to what I see in the community amazes me.
Instead of asking politely for things, many SMB resellers rant and rave about how vendors are not beating a path to their door. All the while the more professional SMB resellers go about their business without fanfare and they make it VERY successfully.
I think that many of the SMB resellers need to have a good think about why they are in business and how they treat their vendors. Then decide if you want to continue to work with those vendors and offer a little respect… you might be surprised at what you get in return.
The days of “the channel” are numbered.
If people don’t like it now, I wonder what they will be saying next year.
-Vlad
I think the channel will still exist, but the form in which it exists in 2 or 3 years time will be different to what it is today.
That’s what I meant. “the channel” as it is will not exist.
Right now, things are structured to do one to many because companies are still trying to grow their channels and reach as many VARs as possible. But as we’ve seen, too many “wide channel” programs don’t pay for themselves and it will actually be a focus on partnerships (quid pro quo) than “free tshirts and software”
-Vlad