Microsoft Changing Channels? - Enter the Channel
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Page 2 of 2 )
Enter
the channel.
"In
Microsoft's heyday, they had their best successes in the enterprise—when
everyone was deploying Exchange servers, when people were moving to Windows 95
and 98," said Bahl.
Many
VARs also fared exceedingly well during those high times.
"At
the beginning, with those big OS releases, Gates, [Steve] Ballmer and all of
the management team were very aware of the role the channel played," said
Michael Cherry, an analyst at research company Directions on Microsoft. He
added that the relationship between Microsoft and its channel organization has
always been symbiotic.
"Microsoft
really is a company most people don't deal with directly," Cherry said.
Consumer products are sold through retail channels and preinstalled on hardware
from OEMs, and, no matter their size, businesses deal mostly with Windows VARs,
he said.
Of
course, without the channel, Microsoft could have sold in other ways, including
direct, but it perhaps wouldn't have been so profitable, Cherry said. And, without Microsoft, there would have been
plenty of other options to keep VARs busy, he said.
"If
not Windows, it's a safe bet to say something else would have come along,”
Cherry said. “There were plenty of other competitors, including Apple and
Commodore.” For example, successful VAR channels have sprung up around other computer
systems, including Novell’s NetWare, he said.
In
the wake of Gates' departure from day-to-day activities at Microsoft, one thing
channel players can do to ensure their future success is to partner not just
with Microsoft but with each other—to ensure they're reaching the widest
possible audience.
"I
like to call it ‘co-opetition,’" Bahl said. "Partners are realizing
that they have to partner with each other and not just with vendors against one
another."
Bahl
added that Microsoft has been instrumental in pushing the concept of VARs
partnering to build on their respective strengths rather than adding entirely
new competency areas within single VARs.
"Microsoft
has done a lot toward forging connections between different VARs, which helps
us, and it also helps them," Bahl said. "Together, we sell and manage
many more products."
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