The Next Three Years For HTG

I was blessed to spend a couple days this week with the HTG team and advisory council in a strategic planning session in Phoenix. Our mission was to step back and take another look at our course and make sure we were on track. It was a great exercise as we turned over every aspect of the HTG program and took a look at where we were, and more importantly, where we were going to be in 3 years.

After all, we continually press our members to do strategic planning. That has to drive every part of our businesses. It comes down to answering the "why" question. Why do we do what we do? What is the driving force - the end game - the desired outcome? Far too many businesses and organizations go through their lifecycle without ever really knowing why. They get up, go to work, take on risk, hire people, go through the motions day after day without ever really answering the question of "why". That is not the case for HTG.

HTG has a very clear answer to that question. It is the same answer we have had for a number of years: "HTG exists to help our members experience business and personal growth driven by execution". That is our mantra - our ONE GOAL - our castle on the hill. We will have succeeded if we are able to get ALL our members into a continual cycle of growth that aligns with their plans. That growth happens in many ways, at different speeds, across many different facets of our members. But the key is to identify where you want to go, to pursue it with passion, and to reach that goal only to set the next one that will define how you live and lead for the next period of time.

HTG identifies the need for that growth to happen in four areas: business, leadership, life and legacy. That is why our FOUR PLANS will continue to be central to helping us achieve our mission. We are not content to help members drive EBITDA alone. We want people to not only succeed in business, but to also have success in their relationships, in their personal lives, and in creating the future impact of their life driven by their legacy. This differentiates us from most other peer programs who focus on driving bottom line income. We don't ignore that need - it is primary in our mission - but to have a fantastic business without a balance - to lose the important relationships in life because of a single focus - well to us that does not define success and certainly will not produce happiness. Without life/work balance the money really is unfulfillng over time.

HTG will continue to drive our groups and members to leverage their peer relationships. The most important part of HTG is the peer group meetings each quarter. The QBR format (quarterly board review) with deep feedback from fellow peers is key to helping our members really grow. It is that accountability that keeps every member on course. We all face plateaus in our growth process. It is a lifecycle when running a successful business and to be able to lay it on the table and allow others to provide their guidance and share their wisdom is very valuable in driving growth. Benchmarking our financials through our partnership with Service Leadership, and building deep profiles and scorecards will take us to the next level in our reporting and feedback focus.

HTG will work more strategically with vendors and our distribution partner (Ingram Micro) to drive business and member success. We have had some great progress with a few of our vendor partners - notably ConnectWise, IBM, Microsoft, SonicWALL and HP - and we will be focusing on finding ways to work hand in hand to build methods to drive business for all. The good news about this environment is that it is very much a shared goal and in everyone's interest to drive more business. This becomes critical as we begin to deal with the transition that cloud computing will bring to our industry. We need deep partnerships and the ability to leverage the intelligence, data and direction of those who define what our industry becomes. Our partnership with Ingram Micro and CompTIA will be a key part of guiding us through the transition ahead.

There are many more details that will be shared in Dallas in April at our HTGALL lunch on Monday, and in the peer group meetings that will happen that week. But the reality is that our direction remains the same. We have more clarity about the details than ever before, and we will review those as we lay the plan out for our members in Dallas. HTG will remain focused on one thing: business and personal growth driven by execution. We are about helping our members go from good to great - to removing the roadblocks to their growth - and providing an environment through our program that allows us to build the premier set of business leaders in this industry. We are well on our way. Our pursuit of that goal will continue and our team is passionate about getting us there. As Edison said, "Vision without execution is hallucination". We are not hallucinating - we are on course and heading for the end zone. We are looking for a few good partners who want to join the journey. Only those with a passion to grow need apply. http://www.htgpeergroups.com/ for the application.

Will the Real Partners Please Stand Up?

I wrote a blog post about a year ago when partners were going crazy around a mistake SonicWALL made (http://peerpower.blogspot.com/2008/12/when-things-dont-go-as-planned.html) that caused some pain for folks when their units were not updating and working properly. Over the past 12 months there have been posts around issues at Ingram and ConnectWise. Things happen that cause pain for partners and it seems more and more that the response is to react and start blasting out emails and complaints rather than trying to understand what is happening. The most recent of these involves another great partner of the channel – the folks at HP.

HP has made a corporate decision to take compliance very seriously. They are addressing some legal and regulatory compliance requirements proactively. There is a tendency by many of us in the channel to forget that our vendor partners don’t make the rules under which they have to operate as a corporation – they are dictated to by the government or in the case of many – governments all around the world who seem to focus on making it difficult for large corporations to succeed. HP, and Compaq before them, have been very strong channel advocates. They are not perfect, and have made plenty of bone headed decisions in the past. But the thing about HP that has always impressed me, particularly in the past few years, is that when there is a mistake, particularly in channel conflict, they take the appropriate action and side on behalf of the partner to correct the error. At least that has been my experience and why we have all our eggs in their basket. The same is not true from some other hardware providers who claim to be channel friendly. If there is a conflict, they default against the partner and deliver the “too bad” message. But that is for another day and time.

HP has been tasked with meeting compliance requirements. They have chosen to use an outsourced vendor to handle this process – recognized in the compliance industry as a best in class screening service provider. Using a third party also provides some separation by HP in case there is ever any investigation or question about the process. Partners have received faxes and emails with the message that they need to register on a secure portal, take a short training module, review the code of ethics, and then complete a questionnaire to assess compliance risk. The process is fairly painless. It took us two and a half to three hours. Yes it cost $120 to complete it. There are certainly things about this process that are poorly done:

1. Communication has been very poor – receiving notice of this via fax is a pathetic method – this is the 21st century after all
2. There is plenty of the training that does not apply to an SMB partner – not a big deal but an aggravation
3. There does not seem to be any connection between the communication and whether a partner has done the training – some get notices after completion while others still have not heard about the need to do it at all
4. Communication has been very poor – worth repeating again since it is soooooooo bad

OK – now that we have agreed that the process leaves something to be desired, let’s talk about the other side of the coin. There always are two sides to consider although partners tend to only want to see it their way. HP is setting a standard here. They are going to require partners to be compliant and follow the rules. They are setting a standard around business conduct that should give us some assurances that things will be done properly. In a way, they may be setting themselves up for some unfair competition from competitors who opt not to play so fairly. But bottom line they are making a statement about their desire to be a thought and industry leader and that is a very good thing indeed.

So what is the bottom line. As I see it, HP has a cost of doing business that they are passing on to their partners. They also are taking a proactive stance on being sure partners are compliant. Should we like it? Maybe not, but guess what, that is exactly what I do when I have an increase in my cost of doing business. It gets passed on to my customer. I am willing to bet you do the same, or soon will be out of business. Besides - $120 is an aggravation not an expense to be a partner. You pay $1500 or more to be a Microsoft partner. Many vendors are a lot more than that. Those that truly are HP partners have expressed over and over that this is not a big deal. It is part of being a true partner. Many have expressed the wish that the cost to be an HP partner be significantly higher. Those that are making a big issue of the matter likely aren’t really partners but looking to have access to things without being willing to truly step up and partner. Sitting on the HP small business advisory council allows me to see the reality of their partner channel. Less than 10 percent of their partners sell well over 80 percent of the product. So will there be tears in Houston if a bunch of people who carry the name of HP partner but don’t sell anything decide that spending 3 hours and $120 is too much to ask go away? I wouldn’t be shedding any tears. That is not the intended purpose of this compliance process, but it may well be one of the benefits. And quite honestly, when I have conversations with other HP partners who are invested and understand what it means to truly partner talk about this, they hope the herd is thinned by a significant percentage. Less people to compete with means better things for those who understand that partnership is give and take and requires everyone to work together.

Could it be done better? Absolutely. Is it a real issue? Not from my perspective. We are a very spoiled bunch in the IT VAR channel. They didn’t call and close a bunch of our shops like they did in the auto industry. They are asking for some true partnership and it is time for the real partners to stand up and differentiate yourself from the pack. Time to grow up and get down to the business of talking to customers and selling solutions rather than whining about something that doesn’t matter.

HTS Annual Vendor Planning Meeting

Today we held our 5th annual HTS planning meeting. We huddled in the KC Microsoft office with our field reps from Microsoft, SonicWALL, Ingram Micro, HP and Altigen. The goal was to review our performance from 2009, evaluate what we could have done better, and then create a joint plan across all our vendor partners for 2010. When we started doing this 5 years ago, there was a lot of question and concern. "You really expect us to sit in a room with competitive vendors and share our thinking and plans for next year?". I have always had a simple answer. "It is up to you. You only have to participate if you want to do business with us next year." This is not an optional activity. It is about partnering and creating solutions across our vendor partners to drive business. No one has ever failed to show up. And each year it gets better and better and the walls have come down and we are working to build cross vendor solutions we can take to our markets.

We come away with joint training plans, joint sales models, joint marketing programs - just a unified approach to making HTS and our vendor partners successful. We started our event last night with a dinner for all our vendor participants to allow some pre-game activity - tailgating if you will to help warm up the crowd. Had a nice time at On the Border eating and sharing about life. Today we dove in early - reported on our YTD status - and shared specific information with our vendors. In fact, we give them all our data on our customers and sales activity. Many would say we are crazy to trust a vendor with the keys to our kingdom. Our feeling is that it is only when we truly partner and work together that we will succeed. Jane Cage, our COO and pivot table queen, is able to slice and dice our data in dozens of ways. Our vendor partners can see things in that data we would never see because they work with many different partners in many different markets. We look to them for guidance and best practices they learn from watching others. It is a very valuable experience and well worth the risk in our opinion.

Our team left today with a list a mile long for us to consider as we write our 2010 business plan. And our vendors left with a list we had for each of them for commitments we expect them to execute for us next year. It is a two way street. Both of us are accountable in this, and we will review mid year to make sure everyone is executing. If you aren't planning with your vendors and distribution partners, you are really missing something special. It truly can propel your business. It will put you in a very elite class of partners - not many are willing to be transparent and go to the work of pulling together an event like this. But it is well worth the effort and can help you grow in ways you will never be able to do any other way. As I say over and over - the differentiator between partners is not sales or technical skills - it is understanding the power of strategic relationship management. That begins with planning with your vendors and disty partners. If you want to be status quo - try and do it yourself. If you want to be one of the elite partners in the channel - get over yourself - reach out and work with the folks who can propel you to the next level!

A Flurry of Marketing Opportunity

The Frontline Program from HP and Microsoft is back! This is one of the best marketing programs that have ever existed, and while it is not as flush as it once was, it is still good. You can apply for up to $2000 to run a campaign. Market Development Funds (MDF) are available again effective November 1, 2009. You should consider running a marketing campaign focused on HP and Microsoft® solutions that will produce revenue for HP, Microsoft and your company. A 20:1 ROI is required to get paid. To submit an application for FLP market development funds, complete the application/proposal form. They are especially interested in supporting your proposal for marketing activities focused on Microsoft Windows® 7, Windows Server 2008 R2, and HP PCs and HP ProLiant servers!

Another place to check if you are a Microsoft SBSC is www.mspartnerdirect.com and add promotion code SBSC to claim your $1000 in market development funds (or use the money for reimbursment of other marketing efforts - see www.mspartnerdirect.com/sbsc for more). More money set aside for us as Microsoft partners to use in driving business. This leverages Microsoft's Ready To Go campaigns which include Microsoft-focused events, services, templates, case studies, and newsletters, and are designed to help VARs devote the bulk of their time to business oriented activities.

Also expand the leverage by working with your local engagement team (LET) field person. If you don't know who it is, you can find out at http://www.microsoft.com/smallbusiness/local/partner/connect.aspx and get the relationship started.

Some good news for partners. But it only matters if you actually take advantage of it. Don't mess around - money is still not growing on trees and while there is some in the bucket today, get out there and start putting it to work driving your company. Nothing happens without some work, but good things can if you leverage the investments available and add a few bucks of your own and some elbow grease. Don't miss the boat!

Can't Miss Events in 2009

We are just about 6 weeks from the Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference, and I thought it would be a good time to remind you why events like this are so important to us as partners. There are only a few events on my “cannot miss” list any more:

1. Quarterly HTG meetings
2. ConnectWise Partner Summit
3. VentureTech Network Invitational
4. Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference
5. HP Americas Partner Conference (when held)
6. SonicWall Peak Performance (when held)

Certainly there are a number of other quality events that occur in the channel each year, but to be honest, if I don’t pick and choose I will be attending an event or two every week. And as our organization has matured, it has become more important to select the events that will make the largest impact on our company that is possible. There is a real cost, and a significant opportunity cost to be out of the office, on the road attending events. So why are these six my picks?

HTG quarterly meetings are the backbone of my community involvement. At those meetings each quarter I get to focus on my business – checking out the benchmarking numbers that show how I did relative to the group we participate in, HTG as a whole, and the industry. It also gives me a great big batch of best practices and fresh ideas to evaluate, as well as a quick evaluation by the other 11 members of my group as we go through the peer board review. The days spent at HTG are the best investment I can make in terms of working on my business.

Since ConnectWise is the platform we run our business on, attending their partner summit is a no brainer. There is no one single thing that can impact my business as deeply and quickly as tweaks made to the PSA tool we use. So attending their event, rubbing shoulders with the other users there, and learning how to get the most from that product is a great investment of time. ConnectWise is the operating system of our business, and we need to continue to raise our effective utilization of the software to drive process and success in our business.

VTN is a great distributor affinity group that gives me a unique touch with key manufacturers and distribution executives. This is the one venue where I can shake hands and have dinner with executives from the major vendors in the industry. It also is a great place to hear quality content and be part of a large community of partners who are mature and focused. Supplemented by two quarterly local chapter meetings, VTN gives me a broad look at the industry and allows me to connect at a different level than any other event I attend.

Microsoft WPC – the next upcoming event I will attend – is all about building relationships broadly across a large organization. It would take weeks of time on campus in Redmond and airplanes criss crossing the country to be able to see and meet with the number of people I am able to connect with in 4 days at WPC. There is no other gathering where I can get access to the quantity of a vendor’s staff that Microsoft provides at WPC. Mornings allow access to executive keynotes that provide a roadmap for the future. Afternoons are filled with breakouts, but sprinkled in all of the open spots are one on one’s and small meetings with program managers, product folks, field team and a variety of others from the Microsoft company. If you just attend WPC for the content delivered from main stage and breakouts, it is a good value. But if you really take advantage of the time to connect with people, it is an unbelievable opportunity to build relationships with key people across that organization that can be fantastic resources for you to leverage and work with to grow your company. There is no question that the success of HTS has been influenced heavily by our attendance at WPC. We have connected with dozens of Microsoft teams and staff who have helped us grow our company in a lot of areas. It takes a consistent presence and a lot of effort to schedule meetings, connect at receptions and events, find people at parties and lunch, but it is well worth it if you do it well. Of course, there is also the benefit of getting to know the partners who are typically the movers and shakers in the channel because those are the typical attendees. That gives rise to partnering opportunities and other lessons that happen as we build relationships with folks from around the world.

HP and SonicWall are also key partners for HTS and thus on my list of much attend events. They do not hold their conference each year, so it is not as regular as the other events I attend, but when they happen, I will plan to be there. A lot of the same reasons that I called out about WPC apply to these events as well. Great places to connect and grow your relationships and ultimately your business.

So the real question is – which events are on your “must attend” list? I know that WPC is a rather expensive event to attend, but the venue is always superb, the event and content very well done and the opportunity to create relationships that can make a significant difference is there for the asking. Things are tight, which means there will be less people there to compete for the meeting slots and opens the door for more interaction and connections. It will be too late when you hear the feedback that Microsoft put on another fantastic partner conference. We are on the dawn of some great new products with Windows 7, Exchange 10, Office and on the list goes. Can you afford to be in the dark about all that is on the horizon? Don't be one of the partners who says they want to have a deeper relationship with Microsoft but then fail to execute on one of the most important things they deliver to the channel each year - WPC. Your call - just don't talk out of both sides of your mouth at once......

Microsoft and HP announce combined SaaS Effort

From CRN - Microsoft Corp. and HP today announced a joint initiative that will enable value-added resellers (VARs) to benefit from a Software Plus Services (aka SaaS) business model by providing new revenue streams and helping them be strategic advisors to their clients. HP and Microsoft plan to equip VARs with comprehensive tools and guidance that will enable them to “private label” Microsoft’s solutions that are hosted by managed service providers.

So do you care? Should any of us care? The reality is we have to adapt to the changing marketplace if we want to continue to be relevant. I don’t see immediate impact in the SMB space with cloud computing, but I could be surprised as the economy could drive more companies to make the jump rather than a capital investment. But at the end of the day if we are doing our jobs well as trusted business advisors, most of our clients in the SMB will do what we lead them to do. I believe we need to understand the opportunities and requirements of being successful with the cloud and SaaS, TaaS or whatever other acronyms that will come up, but overall, we just need to always keep the customer needs top of mind and center of our actions and we will have a place in the technology ecosystem. Microsoft and HP are providing us tools to enable us to engage in this new playground that take out a significant portion of the cost of entry. There is a definite trade off in revenue opportunity as an expected result, but at least we can go to market with trusted technology partners that we can rely on to build a practice around. There is still much to learn and figure out, but it is time for all of us in the channel to get after the pending transition and prepare for the future. The waters will get muddy before they clear up again……my thoughts and I am sticking to them.

Can you find a business to pimp

HP has just released details on a new promotion you need to let your customers know about. Check out the details at www.pimpmyinfrastructure.com. This contest has some serious prizes, and a couple of businesses are going to win a bunch of really cool HP gear and they did it right - if your customer wins the reseller gets 5K in stuff too. For once we don't get forgotten if things go our way. The contest is designed to drive awareness and interest in SBS2008 and EBS2008 with one lucky business getting a makeover for each segment. This is a great reason to send out some marketing info that will open the door to discuss these great new products as well as the supporting cast of gear from HP to run them on. Here are the rules in the fine print:

Pimp My Infrastructure is a contest sponsored by HP and Microsoft®.

1. Choose a customer (or customers) whose business is challenged by a lack of infrastructure power.
2. Ask your customers to tell us their story.
3. Remind your customers to put your company's name down as their reseller.
4. We pick the most worthy customers--one small-sized business (1 to 75 PCs) and one mid-sized business (76 to 300 PCs). We'll "Pimp Their Infrastructure" with a prize package of goodies courtesy of our sponsors.
5. If we pick your customer's submission, you'll win some cool prizes.
6. Keep in mind that the deadline for submissions is 11:59 PM ET ON October 20, 2008!
7. Announcement of the winner will be at the Microsoft November 12th Customer SBS/EBS 2008 Virtual Launch.

Take advantage of a cool promotion - get the word out on HP and the new MS products - and potentially win 5K. Just make sure your customers know what your company name is and enter it when they fill out the registration form. With all this remote MSP stuff - they may have forgot who you are! Good luck!

HTS Recieves CRN Fast Growth 100 Award

HTS was honored this past week by being named to the CRN Fast Growth 100 Awards list for 2008. We were recognized on the 2007 list at #67 but this year have climbed to #24. We are honored and blessed by the good things that have been happening at HTS. We recognize that this is a team award - that management may guide the ship - but there are 85 professionals that are touching and serving our clients every day that make growth possible. The team at HTS has made this award possible, and we are grateful for each and every one of them.

Check it out online at http://www.crn.com/it-channel/209600540?pgno=3. You can learn all about the Fast Growth 100 online at CRN as well. This is a very prestigious award for us to recieve two years in a row. Part of the celebration will be a day in Chicago mid October where we will be able to connect with others on the list and learn from those who have achieved much in their companies as well.

We never quit learning, which is why the Heartland Tech Groups are so important for us. Part of the credit for this award has to also go to the many companies in HTG that we have learned from quarter after quarter. We may be one of the largest in the organization, but we certainly don't have it all figured out and learn continually from each of you as we share our businesses and lives together. Thanks to each of you for your impact, encouragement and participation.

We also recognize that our key vendors - Microsoft, HP and Sonicwall - have made this possible by providing us with great products we can build solutions and services around. And of course our distribution partner Ingram has been a huge part of our growth and success not only by delivering products on time but by investing in our company through many avenues - most importantly connecting us with great people.

None of it could happen at all if we weren't surrounded by fantastic small and medium businesses who entrust their networks and IT needs to us every day. Our team continues to go out and find ways to help our clients succeed which is really the end game for all of us.

So while I am humbled by the award and position we have been given, I also know it took a village, if you will, to allow us to become what we are today - a small business VAR (or solution provider, or system integrator or whatever you want to call us) in the middle of an Iowa cornfield. It didn't happen without the investment of very many people and to each who have been part of that journey I say thank you!

Advisory Councils - Do They Matter?

I am in Orange County to meet as part of the HP SMB advisory council for a couple days. This is my first meeting with this group of great partners and HP execs. I do serve on a number of these groups in our industry, and have learned there is great value in participating in the process.

Companies like HP spend a ton of money to make this event happen. Not by paying for our travel - we do that ourselves - but by the people they make available and the time they invest. Not only do they lock into a room with us for a day - they have to deal with the outcomes that are discussed and go back and evaluate the feedback and put it into action where it fits. That is the difficult part - the execution. My experience with vendors are they really do want to know how to engage the channel more effectively. They all spend a lot of money building programs for our benefit, and it is in everyone's best interest to have those fine tuned as much as possible. It is no easy task and there are so many different variables that have to be considered.

My role is to serve as a representative for partners in the SMB space. So don't hesitate to send me things that you believe should be addressed. Obviously I am looking for positive ideas and suggestions that can improve things - not the complaining and negativity that we sometimes allow ourselves to fall into. No vendor is perfect - nor will they ever be - but I do know that many are listening like never before and we need to take advantage of the opportunity to shape the programs of tomorrow. So rather than talk about what should be - drop me a mail and let me take that to those who can make it reality. That is the kind of partnership that we all need to work toward. It is the good insight and suggestions that can really make life better for all of us in the channel. Let's make it happen!

Dell Just Doesn't Get It

I have been vocal over the last few years about how a channel friendly vendor acts in a particular way, and that certainly is not how Dell thinks. They continue to infringe on partners while telling them out of the other side of their mouth that they want to be channel friendly. It just ain't so. Jeff Anderson from Bulletproof Networks in HTG10 wrote a very strong and accurate email about the reality of Dell and what they are doing. Take a read. The landscape continues to change at the same time as they are trying to convince us they want to work with partners. Baloney. Here are Jeff's words:

"We’ve been reselling Dell for nearly 5 years, and it’s been great right up until a few weeks ago when we were moved into the Partner Direct team. Now, they’re refusing to quote on any deals larger than 2 or 3 PCs unless we tell them who the end-customer is, and if the end customer has ever done business with Dell directly then we have to register the deal. By “register” they mean supply all the details and ask for permission to sell to this customer. I’m almost okay with that, since it protects us too by preventing the customer from shopping the deal around to get the best price, but it turns out that they won’t approve a deal unless it’s valued at $25K+ ($50K+ for non-profit or government). Maybe 20% of my deals will exceed $25K in Dell hardware.

So the upshot of all of this is that if I have a deal for a server and half a dozen new workstations, and my client happens to have ever dealt directly with Dell before, then I won’t be allowed to sell it. In fact, Dell won’t even give me a quote.

I’m way beyond pissed off right now - I’m actually enraged. And, yes, I could probably lie to Dell about who the end user is, or maybe split up my purchases so that I stay under the radar, but that kind of thing ’s just a bullshit waste of my time. Oh, and my first question upon learning about this forced deal registration nonsense was to ask how we get out of Partner Direct… And the answer? We can’t.

So much for Dell becoming “channel friendly” since they hired (former Dell Canada President) Greg Davis to develop a formal channel program. The irony is that I suspect that he actually thinks the new program IS channel friendly, but didn’t take into account the affect on smaller partners like us who live on smaller deals…

I’ve directly done about million dollars in business with Dell over the past few years, and probably influenced half again that much. I’m curious how much volume we have as a group, and if the rest of you are experiencing pain since moving to Partner Direct. If so, maybe together we do enough business to get someone at Dell to listen to us and remove these ridiculous restrictions, or maybe we should be seeing how interested HP would be in picking up all of that business instead."

Well said Jeff. I appreciate your willingness to let me share it. Sounds channel friendly to me.....HP you have another opportunity to get it right and connect with partners. They keep serving the opportunity up on a silver platter. How about becoming easy to work with so partners don't feel forced to sleep with the enemy. Most don't want to do business with Dell. They just can't figure out how to work with HP.

Thoughts on the SAS conference

I was in San Jose on Tuesday night to speak for the SCSI Trade association - STA (http://www.scsita.org/) about SAS technology in the SMB. I was on the program with HP, Microsoft, an analyst and Seagate. So certainly I was the novice in the crowd. There were pictures of the first event from 2004 called a plugfest, which is actually what it sounds like, a bunch of gear plugged together to prove it works. Today SAS is running at 3 G soon to be 6 G by the end of the year. Storage is becoming a critical part of many SMB networks. It isn't just for the enterprise boys any more. You can get the presentation at http://www.scsita.org/aboutscsi/sas/SAS_OH_2008_v8.pdf and learn a bit about the upcoming roadmaps for SAS and get some ideas on just how important this technology is for the future of computing. It was an extreme honor to be in San Jose speaking to the Silicon Valley crowd and sharing a customer evidence story about how SAS solved a data access issue. I am not a technical guru by any stretch of the imagination, but I certainly have a much higher appreciation for this technology and how it will continue to serve our clients for many years to come. Thanks to LSI and HP for the opportunity to represent them and present on their behalf.

SMB Summit Day One

We had a great day at the Summit yesterday. Over 350 people in the audience at the start and a strong crowd all day. Microsoft shared about SBS2008, and there were lots of aha's and applauses throughout the day. This event is made possible by our vendor sponsors like Microsoft and HP, who have not only helped provide great products and content, but have provided financial support, equipment, people and a host of other things. Make sure you remember to thank our vendors for what they do. They don't "owe" us anything. They make choices to invest where it makes a difference in their success. So let's show appreciation to 35 or so vendors who are supporting SMB Summit, first by selling their stuff, but secondly by being grateful and telling them.

The meals and service yesterday was stellar. The Omni is a great place to be. Internet is a bit challenging, but what can we expect with 400 plus technology people in the place. Today we move on to EBS and a brand new opportunity for partners to consider. The sun is up and it is a beautiful day in Dallas. Pat Dolan and the TCC team have created a couple Youtube videos on the night before and day one. If you are at the summit - don't download the internet in your room, but here are the links. Tell Pat and his team thanks for making the investment. Stuart did his radio show from the Summit as well, check that out too. This event is about community and we have the best people in the world as part of this family of partners. See you at the meeting!

Final Thoughts on the HP Partner Conference

I spent a couple days at the HP Partner Americas Event in Las Vegas this week. It was a very well done event full of a boat load of great content. HP always does things up first class. There were a few key takeaways from my perspective. Mark Hurd addressed the crowd and really focused on partner loyalty. It is all about partnership and relationship at a deep level. I have been preaching that for a long time as well. We have to go deep with our vendor partners. HP wants that to happen. None of this partial commitment – a big theme was being ALL IN with HP. I heard a similar message across the strip at the Sonicwall conference earlier in the week from CEO Matt Medeiros. Both companies are going to focus on partners who are loyal and sell their entire product set. Great news for HTS as we are aligned that way already.

A second observation was the type of partners at the HP event. I fit in that group from an age perspective. They wore suits and ties, which is a big stretch for me, but the average age of the attendees at the HP event was fairly high. This is a seasoned set of partners who will not be leading their respective companies forever. A great opportunity for HP to build some customer loyalty for the future by investing in the channel and helping grow up the next version of partners. Things will change in how the partner business happens. Web 2.0 is going to change a lot and the millenials (young workforce in their 20’s) are already changing how IT has to work and function. A lot more of that change is coming. Our HTG peer groups are focused on helping partners get positioned for the future.

The third observation is in the way HP runs a first class event. They had plenty of staff on hand, their systems worked for scanning into the breakouts, the meals were good and entertainment fantastic. How can you beat Steve Young and Sheryl Crow? Sonicwall held its event at the Plazzo which did have nicer rooms than Caesars. It is a brand new hotel so that is a bit of an advantage. The HP investment was in the event itself. Sonicwall takes a little different approach. Their meals were a step down, their entertainment a lot less – three impersonators, three “attitude girls” and a money machine – but they paid for a majority of the room cost so it was a lot less expensive to attend. Sort of a David and Goliath approach to the event. Both were good and I am glad I was able to attend both, but hope they don’t run them concurrently again. It was a bummer missing key pieces of both events. My hat goes off to both these companies for understanding the need to allow partners to come together to learn and grow. I appreciate that investment and support. It is those kinds of things that create loyalty. Thanks to Mark and Matt for believing in the channel.

Partner Conferences

Today I am on the way to Las Vegas for the beginning of partner conference week. Sonicwall's conference begins today, and HP's starts tomorrow. Why they can't communicate enough to make sure they don't overlap is beyond me. But at least they are in the same town and I will catch pieces of both. I find these events very valuable - not because of the content so much - but because of the people. It is the single best place to gain access to key executives and the best of their partner base. There is no other place I know to visit with the cream of the crop for these vendors. They don't invite every partner, they invite those who are engaged and performing. So I love being able to network and meet up with partners who are not worried about how they get a discount on this sku or a few dollars of MDF for a lunch and learn. These are typically partners with a plan and folks who have been making it happen. If they weren't they wouldn't be there. That said - it you are in Vegas for either of those events let me know. I would love to catch up with you and see what is happening in your world. I have a couple reporters looking to talk with some good partners as well.

I am really looking forward to hearing from Matt Mederios and Mark Hurd. What is said from the top does matter. A couple years ago when Mark came on as CEO of HP, I was so impressed I actually went home and bought some HP stock. That was a good decision (not quite as good as the Apple stock I bought but still good). Don't ever think that the vision and direction of a leader doesn't matter - certainly not a true leader. These two companies have true leadership at the top. That is one of the key reasons we partner with both of them. They also have some great additional leadership in key areas. I am especially excited to meet Adrian Jones this week from HP. He came into the HP organization to lead SPO and has been a huge help in correcting some of the issues their dealer authorization arm has caused. I love working with people who just make it happen and Adrian has been one of those folks at HP along with some of his reports. I am grateful to be able to work with people in large companies who still understand the importance of people. Same things goes for Sonicwall. Both companies have their issues, but at the end of the day they are approachable and willing to work at making things right.

Let me know if you will be in Vegas. See you there!

Working with Vendors

We had a great day yesterday in our HTG peer meeting sharing about business and life. One thing keeps coming up over and over the more time I spend with partners - the frustration of trying to work with vendors. I had numerous conversations with partners yesterday and most every day for that matter, about how they struggle to be connected to the vendors their very business depends on for success. It is a strange phenomenon. Vendors are very dependent upon us as partners to sell and support their products for success as well. So it really is a situation where both parties need the other to succeed. But somehow there are so many breakdowns in that relationship it just seems to be a mess for many most of the time. Partners get frustrated and jump to the next vendor thinking the grass has to be greener over there only to find the same end result. The reality is that a partner-vendor relationship is about people and that is a very complicated affair. It is really not all that different than being in a deep friendship or marriage - you have to work at it and not give up. Marriages fail because people decide it is not worth working through the problems to get to the other side. There has to be something better. Partner - vendor relationships fail for the same reasons. They consist of imperfect people who don't always do what is expected (even though those expectations are not clearly defined by either party). They consist of change in personnel and programs and direction by both companies. They are a moving target that require a lot of determination and hard work. But if I was going to sum it up in one word - success in building a vendor relationship requires one thing - COMMITMENT. From both sides - moment by moment and day by day. It is not always going to be pleasant or fun. It will be frustrating. But as partners we need to make wise choices on who we will go to market with, select a handful of go to market partners, and then make a deep commitment to get connected and stay committed to them. We can't move with every change in the wind. We have to be honest when we are frustrated and work with them to resolve it. We also need to be grateful when things are good and thankful when their products and programs have a positive impact. I hear a lot more whining than I do gratitude from the partner community. It is like vendors "owe us" or something. They don't owe us any more than we owe our customers. Certainly we don't like to think of that relationship that way. I treat my vendors like a customer, as that is what they truly are. We are blessed to have deep relationships with our key vendors - Microsoft, HP, Sonicwall, Ingram and a few others. Building those has taken many years and a lot of work, and the process never ends. People change and it is a continual process of going deeper and wider in each of those companies. But it is well worth it. We are blessed to have great vendor partners. It is a win win for both of us. It can happen. But it starts with a commitment and then rolling up your sleeves and getting to work.

Investing in Team

Today and tommorrow the HTS team which I lead is at an offsite in Kansas City. We hold an annual all hands retreat each year to bring together our entire team and get people connected and on the same page. We started this back in the late 90's and have been holding a time away and together for 10 years now. It is one of the best investments we make in building team and positioning us for growth.

During our two day event we focus on a number of training objectives. This year we have training being presented by our key vendors - HP, Microsoft, Sonicwall and 3Com. Our distribution partner will be with us as well - Ingram Micro. We will be learning about their key technologies for 2008 and positioning our team as the go to partners with these partners. This year we are taking a page out of the HP playbook by doing a lot of our sales and technical training in one large room with our sales people sitting with the engineering staff that supports them. This is something we learned from sending a couple of our staff to the HP technology summit in Houston last year that has paid big dividends for us. It will allow these small teams of a sales person and the appropriate engineer to talk about specific customers who can benefit from the solutions being presented as we go through the day. Our objective is to leave Saturday afternoon with a list of target clients that we can go present these solution ideas to and hit the ground running.

Of course one of the main purposes of the event is to have fun together. Tonight we have our opening celebration. This years theme is based around the concept of an orchestra and each of our 8 locations will be presenting a song - yes singing or lip syncing - to the group that describes their office. Last year we did an olympic theme and again had each office do a skit along those lines. It gets pretty creative and crazy but there are lots of laughs and pokes at the boss so I just hold on and see what happens. We are blessed to have a great part of our management team in Jane Cage who is awesome at driving this event each year. She is focused on having every detail in place and making sure each person gets the most value possible being at the event.

So what does it cost? A lot. We pull 80 plus people from the field plus feed and house them off site at a hotel in KC. I am typing this blog post from my room there now as we came in a day early as a management team to prepare and make sure we are ready to get the maximum return from our time together. So if we measure the cost in dollars out, we are only looking at one side of the equation. That is what a lot of us do as partners. But when we consider the impact of training, team building, relationships, vendor interaction, distribution interaction and just overall letting our hair down for some fun - it far outweighs the cost. I encourage you to make and take time to build your team. Having a staff that is connected and together on the same page is a key to success and growing your business. You can't get there alone. All of us are smarter than any one of us. It is about us.....not me.

Blade Builder University - Big News

HP has committed to offer Blade Builder University at the upcoming SMB Summit in Dallas in April. And it is being offered at NO COST. This is a day long training that will occur the day before SMB Summit on April 17th. I encourage you to bring a sales manager or lead sales person to this event and learn how to make it happen selling HP Blade Servers. Yes - the new C3000 does fit the SMB space. Register now:

HP Partners may utilize the Partner Call Center at 800-732-5741, Option 4 or use the link below for HP education and training - 40696 and click on the Registration link.

http://h18014.www1.hp.com/training/40696.html

Don't miss this chance to get on the training wagon with HP and then stay for the Summit.

Free online training

Have you ever wondered what the right way to respond to an email is, or how to dress for success? How about how to add gadgets to Vista? HP has a FREE (note that word) set of classes just to address things like this. I have taken their powerpoint class and got some great tips. Check out the listing at http://h30187.www3.hp.com/?poweredUserSegment=none&mcID=em15featureBIZ&dimid=1006790146&dicid=null&jumpid=em_edm-r295/us/jan08/smb/xbu/newsletter/mrm/mcc/sign/rbu_category/model_desc. Here are the business topics currently available:
Writing a high-impact business plan NEW!
Business etiquette
Mobile internet access: change the way you do business
Six steps to computer security QUICK LESSON!
Build your business identity with a new logo
Real estate marketing made easy
Stress, sanity, and survival

There are classes on technology, and a series of "how to's" in two quick steps. And did I mention they are FREE. You don't even have to be an HP partner to participate. I suggest you check out the top two on this list around business plans and etiquette. I will look forward to seeing all of you dressed for success at an upcoming meeting!

Vendor Events - Are you Creative?

We hosted a customer event this week in Omaha at the Qwest center - a UNO Mavericks hockey game. We rented a suite with all the fixins and brought in an HP shorty blade server and some Microsoft unifed communication gear which we set up in the suite. Had all the food and drinks there for folks to enjoy. Reps were on hand from Microsoft, HP, SHI (a licensing LAR) and Intetium (our BI partner) along with our Omaha staff. The event was fantastic. We had customers come in a bit before game time and were able to demo the solutions and discuss our company one on one. They were able to eat, relax, watch some hockey, eat some more and just chill out. Folks stayed for the duration and had a great time. We had funding participation from our partners at the event so it really did not end up costing HTS much at all. It took some creative planning, some ROI proposals, and will mean some disciplined follow up, but it was worth it and I am confident will lead to some future business. Over and over we hear how companies have unspent partner funds - mostly because no one comes to them with a plan that makes sense. Get outside the box and approach your vendors. If you have a plan and execute - they will fund most any reasonable event or activity. We held a similar event a month ago in Des Moines ahead of a basketball game. You need to do your homework and pick you venue and times wisely, but these kind of things create fantastic good will with customers and prospects as well as creating confidence among vendors. Doing an event around a solution also allows multiple vendors to be involved. Don't just think about it, get after it.