Ingram Micro, Heartland Technology Group Partner on Channel Peer Groups

Ingram Micro has
teamed with Heartland Technology Group (HTG) to offer HTG’s proven peer
groups to the distributor’s SMB Alliance (SMBA) partners, helping
solution providers run smarter operations and overcome common business
challenges.

The peer groups were
the brainchild of Arlin Sorenson, HTG’s CEO and founder. In 2001,
Sorenson’s company was struggling to overcome customers’ Y2K issues and
tapped three fellow VARs for advice. The group started meeting
regularly and had grown to include about 12 solution provider firms
after the first year. By 2005, Sorenson says he felt it was time to
start replicating the peer group model.

“The time we spent
with other [solution providers] was really valuable, and the group just
kept growing organically, through word-of-mouth. Suddenly, we had
enough for a second and then a third group,” says Sorenson.

Over the last year,
however, Sorenson says he found himself spending more and more time
running and managing HTG’s peer groups and less running his own
business. The partnership with Ingram will allow Sorenson to focus on
his core solution provider business while still imparting valuable
insight into how to best leverage a peer group.

“We
benefit by gaining additional resources, and they have proven expertise
working with community building, like with SMB Alliance, Venture Tech
Network and others, whereas we know a lot about how to make peer groups
work effectively,” he says.

The peer groups are
open to solution providers participating in Ingram Micro’s SMB Alliance
partner community, says Ryan Grant, Ingram Micro’s direct of channel
marketing. Members will meet four times a year to discuss
their top business priorities and goals with an organized network of
like-minded solution providers, says Grant.

"These peer groups
help [solution providers] to realize others are facing the same
challenges and together, they will find creative ways to manage those
and create more efficiency within their business,” Sorenson says.

Vendor sponsorship
is also available for Ingram Micro’s SMBA Peer Groups, a relationship
which helps both solution providers and vendors, Sorenson says. The
peer groups can provide valuable insight for vendors into channel
programs and products and can also provide a forum for solution
providers to better communicate their needs to vendors.

“I sent out a note
to the groups with information on the proposed programs, and within two
hours I had receive 66 responses to send back to the vendor. That kind
of real-time feedback is crucial if vendors want to best serve solution
providers’ needs,” Sorenson says.

“Now our vendors can
get in front of customers on a more frequent basis so they have a
better idea of what they need. This provides a closer touch model with
the smaller resellers vendors are trying to reach,” Grant adds.

There are, however,
strict requirements for solution providers who want to become a part of
the peer groups. To join, SMBA members must meet specific membership
qualifications, pay a $100 monthly membership fee, and adhere to the
operations code established among the SMBA Peer Groups, Grant says.

Each solution
provider sets their own goals and milestones at each meeting and is
responsible for "doing the homework" required to work toward achieving
those goals, says Sorenson. The other members of the group act as a
virtual board of directors to whom each solution provider is
accountable. And there are consequences if certain requirements aren’t
met.

“You can be ‘voted
off the island’ so to speak, if you don’t do your homework or if you
don’t show up to meetings. We’ve had to do that a couple times this
quarter,” Sorenson says.

While such
punishments may seem harsh, without strict accountability, Sorenson
says they are necessary to keep the groups focused on fostering growth
and progress among active members.

“The commitment
level on the reseller’s part is very important. They are going into
this as a long-term partnership –so if they’re not cutting it or
participating and executing we will remove them,” says Grant.