Arrow to Aim for Multivendor Deal Registration Portal

Distributor Arrow Enterprise Computing Solutions business unit is looking to create the holy grail of deal registration—a multivendor deal registration portal that allows reseller channel partners to register deals in just one place, yet reap the points from multiple vendors.

For IT vendors the portal could potentially increase the number of deals that actually get registered, something that vendors are always saying they wish they could increase, says Bill Botti, president and COO of Arrow Enterprise Computing Solutions' Alternative Technology Group.

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“If you are a VAR you are never selling just one product to a customer, you are selling several products to solve a business problem,” says Botti. “We developed this multideal registration portal because much of the information [entered into various vendor deal registration systems] is common, and this will accommodate multiple transactions at the same time.”

Arrow has four vendors who are initially signed up for the program—VMware, McAfee, Fortinet and Lakeside Software. Botti says there is a pretty significant overlap between VMware and McAfee partners, and McAfee is part of VMware’s alliance program. That means that partners who register a deal that includes both vendors can earn additional points above what each vendor would offer alone.

“If you are the reseller and are able to get another 4, 5, or 6 points, are you going to hold me up to get another point from Ingram Micro?” Botti asks.

Arrow has contacted a total of 10 vendors, and has another three verbal agreements to participate from vendors the company declined to name—for now.  Arrow plans to announce them once deals are signed.  The distributor has also gotten one or two “No” answers from vendors “whose products don’t necessarily fit in well with the overall product set.”

Once Arrow has progressed through the initial 10 vendors it has contacted, it will target another 15 vendors from within its Alternative Technologies portfolio, and another seven after that. Those final seven vendors want to see all the other companies that have signed up before making a final decision on whether to join, says Botti.

Arrow says the multivendor deal registration portal was created in partnership with Amazon Consulting, and is being hosted by Amazon Consulting.