EMC springs a surprise
 The results of the enterprise storage category surprised us. EMC, which till 2007 was focused mostly on large enterprises and had very little connect with the tier-2 channel, rose to prominence in 2008 and gained top position. For this the new team, which joined EMC in 2008, deserves the credit. With a reorganized channel strategy, they unseated HP, the reigning Channel Champion, although by a close margin.
In terms of unique votes, HP scored 20 percent more, but in terms of positive association with the brand, EMC outscored HP and IBM primarily on price-performance, pre-sales support, training and certification and channel relationship.
Even staunch HP and IBM partners admit that EMC has emerged with a sensible and comprehensive SMB strategy, a strong product portfolio, the right partners, and a strategic tie-up with Dell. Respondents opined that EMC brings a more holistic approach to storage solutions than its peers.
What also aided EMC’s cause was the fact that many respondents who have signed up with Dell have begun selling EMC-Dell combos, thus increasing EMC’s product connect with a larger base of the channel.
A few IBM partners have added EMC to their portfolio partly because of their rapport with ex-IBMer Alok Ohrie (who took over as MD in the middle of the year), and partly because of the lack of entry-level NAS and SAN products from IBM. Some HP partners have also added EMC since customers are demanding it.
Price-performance
Respondents polled for the survey ranked product performance and features as the key to selling storage. With customers becoming increasingly mature, decisions on enterprise storage solutions are no longer based on price but on performance and manageability.
In product features and performance, EMC, HP and IBM are perceived to be almost equal by customers where EMC scores higher is the storage manageability aspect. It boasts of better data backup and storage management software than its peers.
EMC’s pricing is 10 percent more than HP’s, but when it comes to bagging stand-alone storage deals it usually comes up with better special pricing than its peers.
Marketing & branding
Respondents polled on parameters such as brand pull enjoyed by vendors among end-customers, local marketing and promotions, and lead-generation initiatives. In customer pull, all three brands are well-known among enterprise customers. However, in the SMB segment, HP and IBM have a better pull due to their larger portfolio. HP’s ad campaigns were more visible than IBM’s and EMC’s. HP’s stronger tele-marketing and lead-generation activity also ranked higher.
Service & support
This parameter included aspects such as pre-sales support (for enterprise products), warranty policy, RMA turnaround and escalation mechanism, toll-free support, and, in several product categories, even lead-generation.
All vendors polled similar positive scores on post-sales support on the majority of the above criteria. However, EMC scored was on pre-sales support. Respondents ranked the EMC pre-sales higher on solutions specing and architecting. With fewer partners than HP and IBM, the company’s pre-sales support for partners is far more focused.
Training & certification
Vendor certification and regular training sessions are important criteria particularly for a category such as enterprise storage. Most channels value product training because it helps their staff to deploy solutions effectively. EMC was ranked higher than its peers primarily because it signed up several new partners, and because all of them were provided free certification training during the year. HP was rated ahead of IBM.
Channel relationship
Under this criterion, solutions providers voted on sub-criteria like pre-sales support, prompt communication, faster clearances, fairness and transparency of channel policies, and friendliness of channel managers.
EMC was ranked higher than HP as respondents opined that the company has better engagement policies, a demarcated process for customer mapping, and is swifter and more aggressive in deal closures. In fact, respondents said that some of the new regional managers appointed by EMC, especially in the south and west, are proactive in managing channel relations.
IBM had the lowest positive association score when it came to fairness and friendliness of its channel policies and managers.
Winner in the Enterprise Storage Category in Channel Champions 2007
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