Friday, February 3, 2012

Free Onsite Support Offering Increases the Value of AssuredSAN Systems

On February 2nd, we announced a new service program available to all customers purchasing Dot Hill branded AssuredSAN storage arrays through authorized resellers. We think this will be a great differentiator for Dot Hill and an excellent value for our customers.

The addition of free onsite support serves as the latest testimony to Dot Hill’s highly reliable AssuredSAN storage, which continues to gain momentum in the distribution channel. We want our channel partners and end-user customers to know that ‘Assured’ is not just the name of our SAN solutions, but also how we want them to feel when they turn to Dot Hill products to manage and protect their critical data assets.

Five 9’s of Availability
One of the reasons that we can offer a free year of service is that Dot Hill products are extremely reliable. AssuredSAN 3000 storage arrays have demonstrated Five 9’s of availability. This is the kind of availability you might expect in an expensive enterprise class storage product costing much more, but we make it available in our core product line for entry and midrange data centers.

It’s That Easy

Customers who register the product at www.dothill.com/registration will now receive a 1 year onsite service agreement. This is in addition to the 3 year warranty. It’s that easy.

Program Details

This offer applies to all AssuredSAN 2002, 3000, and 3003 branded products shipped on or after January 1, 2012.

The onsite service provides coverage 8 hours per day Monday through Friday with next day response time. That’s included with registration.

Service coverage is available in North America and Europe all tier 1 cities.

For customers with more demanding service expectations, there are also options to upgrade to a 4-hour response time and to 7×24 coverage.

It’s a Great Value

Dot Hill has revamped the service program so that a 3 year onsite service agreement is available at very attractive prices. Customers who purchase up front for 3 years will receive annual service for about 7% of the purchase price. That’s just a great value for your customers. At the time that customers register, there is an offer available to upgrade service to a full 3 year period so service can be easily added.


Contributed by: Brad Painter, Vice President, Channel Sales, Dot Hill Systems
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Monday, October 31, 2011

Top 4 Things to Look for When Evaluating a Vendor’s Channel Program

After years of being an executive on the vendor side of the IT industry, I have seen my fair share of vendor partner programs.  Now that I have transitioned from the vendor side to distribution, I have had the unique opportunity to not only see firsthand the details of many vendors’ channel programs, but also witness firsthand which ones are succeeding with the majority of resellers.  Below is my take on the top 4 most important things to look for when evaluating a vendor’s channel program:

#1:  Simplicity and Flexibility

The allure of rebates, incentives and marketing dollars could entice you to sign up for really complex channel programs.  But ask yourself – Is it worth the time to sort out all the details,  and should you just trust that money will magically appear when needed?  Beware that the more complex the program is from the outset, the more complicated and lengthy a process it can be to get your investment back out of said program.  Simplicity is key.  If the channel account rep can sketch the program out on a napkin, then you are headed in the right direction.

Also, be on the lookout for vendors that are willing to respond to their partners with flexibility in both terms and programs.  Vendors that are flexible are usually focused more on the end goal of revenue attainment and less on program regulation.  Pick the vendors who are in it to win it – both for you and the customer, and you will find yourself in a true partnership.  When the vendor is focused on helping you win deals and not on fighting you on the small details, you both win.

#2:  Minimal routes to market

This point is not rocket science – the more ways a customer can get product – the more conflict you as a partner will run into when it comes time to purchase.  Vendors that have a direct sales force can typically be more concerned with winning the deal than the partner relationship and can flip deals with pricing discounts at the last minute.  Additionally, if the vendor you are considering also OEMs equipment through other vendors, evaluate their market differentiation to ensure that you will not have to compete head to head with the other vendor’s channel.  And finally, if a vendor is channel-friendly, they usually offer some form of deal registration, but that too can come with caveats.  Take a close look at the rules and make sure that they have simple, clear guidelines that are adhered to – we all know it doesn’t matter how good the registration discount is if your deal gets taken away!  Bottom line:  Make sure to evaluate the ways a vendor goes to market as well as how they handle pricing through their channel in order to ensure that you can win deals and make money in the long run.

#3:  Execution and consistency

Does the vendor do what they promise?  Do they provide basic tools for you to succeed?  Do they treat partners fairly and with consistency?  During the vendor evaluation process, build in time to ask questions, talk with other partners, and ask to review their sales and marketing toolkits.  A little time upfront can do wonders in ensuring that you partner with a vendor that will make you look good in front of your customers.

#4:  Margin first

Lastly, but most importantly, look for margin first. Many vendors pack a lot of stuff in the channel program trying to make it more attractive to partners.  Most of you resellers are already experts at this, having long ago become translators of channel program documents and being able to spot the stuff that leads to revenue from the marketing fluff.  You know the drill: deal registration discounts compared to average selling price with a factor of routes to market.  It can get complicated.  However, some vendors are choosing to make it less difficult to evaluate margin – some are guaranteeing it.  Be on the lookout for those vendors who are putting the resellers first and taking the complexity out of the equation.  They are out there.

Do you agree with my insights?  Did I miss anything?  Looking forward to your feedback on this topic, and I hope that these insights make it a little bit easier to evaluate your next vendor.

Good selling!

Charles Bass, VP Business Development, Promark Technology

Submitted on behalf of Dot Hill Systems www.dothill.com

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Promark Technology is one of the premier value added distributors (VAD) in the United States focusing on distributing data storage and electronic document imaging products and solutions while also providing VARs the opportunity to offer its clients installation, implementation and support services through the Promark Professional Services Division.   Promark also provides various federal and state contract vehicles including the GSA Schedule which its channel partners can leverage to sell to the government.

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Monday, January 24, 2011

Partners Take Note: Three Storage Challenges for Data Center Managers in 2011

Welcome to the first of the new series within the blog: Partners Take Note. The goal in launching this series of articles is to be reflective of industry trends and relate them to channel partners.

Industry Article:

Three Storage Challenges for Data Center Managers in 2011 by Jim Jonez, Sr. Director of Marketing for Dot Hill Systems

Partner Outlook:

As partners go into the New Year, it is important to understand what is top of mind with data center managers and what challenges they are facing in order to help offer the right solution within budget.

In his article, Jonez tops the list of challenges with cost reduction pointing out that even though IT departments are constrained, budgets aren’t increasing proportionally with the business need. However, cutting costs doesn’t mean that there won’t be any net new storage purchases. Jonez points out that data storage continues to grow at 40% to 60% per year, and that the challenge of cost reduction is amplified when trying to get the most from any new storage purchase. So how can partners sell more storage into these data centers concerned with cost reduction? One way is to focus on features within the storage solution that help provide cost reductions. Let’s use an example that hits close to home, the Drive Spin Down feature of the Dot Hill AssuredSAN storage array products. Did you know that it costs @ $40/year to operate one single disk drive? So if your customers have 200 disk drives in their storage datacenter, it is costing them on average $8,000 annually just to run their drives. By presenting a solution that incorporates automatic drive spin down, you can reduce an IT managers cost by 30%. Another way is to Go Green. Check out “green” features within storage solutions – many of which are considered “green” because they offer customers ways in which to save energy thus saving real dough. So get creative when you look at your customer’s business needs – and research those technical features within your vendors’ product portfolio to meet those needs with solutions that can provide cost reductions in their overall datacenter costs.

Jonez points out that a second challenge data center managers face is process improvement. While 2011 has the promise of a better economy, it will not be the year that the IT department will be doing much rip and replace. If it works, don’t touch it. If it doesn’t, offer solutions for your customers that improve their entire datacenter efforts. Well this fits nicely into Jonez’ third challenge as well in that data center managers are becoming more interested in unified management of storage where they can manage everything from one spot – simply. So let’s kill two challenges with one solution – storage management software. And not just any storage management software. Look for software that can not only manage legacy, heterogeneous storage, but also bring new features to old equipment like automated tiering, thin provisioning, and more. By bringing the old into the new, you can maximize the customer’s past investment, and also set them up for future infrastructure investments by bringing all of their storage under one management tool that can scale with them. If you don’t currently carry a vendor on your line card that offers such technology – check out the Dot Hill AssuredUVS product line.

Finally, let’s take a look at Jonez’ bottom line: “…any new product or system purchase should move toward lower costs, better processes and common management.” So make sure to emphasize how your solutions are able to address these challenges when you present to your customers. By doing so, it shows that you care about their business and reinforces why you have earned the “trusted advisor” status.

Do you agree? Looking forward to hearing your thoughts and feedback.

Article Contributed By: Kara Montgomery, Channel Marketing Manager, Dot Hill

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Wednesday, January 12, 2011

Five Storage Resolutions for the Channel in 2011

Wow, it’s 2011 and where has the time gone?

If you’re like me, you hate to make resolutions, but this time of year does make you stop and consider. It’s not just time to take stock of our personal lives, but of our business as well, and then consider where and how to invest in 2011. Infonetics Research forecasts the SAN equipment market to more than double from 2010 to 2014 when it will reach approximately $6.6 billion. This spells a huge opportunity for resellers to take stock of their storage portfolio and make sure they are capitalizing on all customer SAN opportunities.

Here are five storage resolutions you should consider for 2011:

  1. It’s time to get thin… Thin provisioning has been around for a while now, but there is still a huge installed base of over provisioned storage. When a storage system takes up space it will never need, it’s costing your customers money. Instead of packing data into arrays, they might be leaving them half empty and calling you, their reseller, to buy more. While another array is an attractive sell, a professional services engagement educating your customers on the benefits of thin provisioning is much more attractive since it combines service, software, and hardware. And the great news is that it allows your customers to justify the purchase because thin provisioning ultimately saves them time and money by delivering much-demanded ROI. Educate your customers on thin provisioning, make some hard-earned bucks in the process and ensure their storage infrastructure is fully implemented through a virtual storage platform.
  2. Simplify life… One of the best ways to accomplish this is to pitch those outdated storage systems. You know the ones – they require specialized skills that hardly anyone has and they were EOL’d years ago. Help your customers replace outdated storage with more current SAN systems or direct-attached storage. Introduce them to an easy-to-use interface, boatloads of capacity, and help save the planet with energy conservation features. Your customers, and the environment, will thank you.
  3. Save, Save, Save… As budgets and payrolls shrink, customers will find it increasingly hard to justify spending money. The good news is that many enterprise features within storage have become more affordable – so don’t think you can’t provide your customer with the best. Research and discover storage vendors who can help you deliver enterprise storage features for a fraction of the cost, and you may discover just how much more you can sell into customers with tighter budgets.
  4. Carry an Umbrella… As the saying goes, “the future is bright,” or in our case, bright AND cloudy. 2011 is already turning into the year of the cloud, and it will be important to become fluent in technology for both public and private cloud storage efforts. As we all know, data is extremely valuable and needs to be protected, so research cloud storage and find out if it is right for your customers. If so, determine whether to take it private or public. Just be cautious. It’s not always wise to jump on the latest trend…..does anyone remember jam pants?
  5. Get Insurance…Backup… This should probably be first. Sure, we all know in our hearts that important data needs an airtight backup plan, and we have probably tried to sell/upsell backup solutions to every customer at some point. In a recent Symantec survey, 57% of SMBs and 47% of midsize companies disclosed they have no disaster recovery plan. In addition, 41% of those same firms said it never even occurred to them to put a backup plan in place!! That spells huge revenue opportunity for storage resellers! We all know the costs of not having recovery plan or an insufficient recovery plan are enormous – data loss is estimated at $12 billion annually for the US. So make time to closely examine your customers’ data protection plans early in 2011 and make sure they don’t have any holes. This might be as easy as going to the scheduler on their respective storage systems and activating the snapshot mechanism. It might mean having a conversation with the hosting company about scheduling frequent backups , or maybe using a remote office for replication. Backup isn’t sexy, but it can make or break your relationship with your customer – and could be an easy money-maker as well!

Here’s hoping that you double your SAN equipment revenue in 2011 – and that this New Year is a prosperous one.

Article Contributed By: Dave Zimmer, VP Worldwide Channel Sales, Dot Hill
Original ArticleFeatured As Guest Blog on http://www.thevarguy.com/

David Zimmer is the Vice President of Worldwide Channel Sales for Dot Hill Systems. Mr. Zimmer is a technology veteran with more than twenty years of channel sales experience, having held key positions at DataDirect Networks, Pillar Data Systems, QLogic and Cisco. As Senior Director of Worldwide Channel Sales and Marketing at QLogic, he was responsible for global channel strategy that successfully increased channel revenue from $12 million to $200 million in five years. Mr. Zimmer has a B.S. in Business Computer Methods and a M.B.A. from California State University, Long Beach.

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