Friday, August 27, 2004
Channel Management: Longhorn Delays Open Door in Channel for Competitors
CNET listed three challenges for Microsoft currently due to its delays on Longhorn: "how to market XP this holiday season, what to do in the years before the next major operating system release, and what changes to make to Longhorn, if any, to ensure a timely update." A closely related forth challenge is that with a 3 year old operating system, Microsoft could lose the active support of its channel partners.
A VAR at CompTIA's Breakaway 2004 session earlier this month in Orlando said his business would be better if vendors focused more on delivering products and less on program gimmicks. It is a simple fact of the channel that for a channel partner to grow or even stay alive, they require fresh products to customize and sell.
The situation with Longhorn reminds me of Novell in the mid 1990's. Although its Platinum, Gold and Authorized resellers were among the most loyal in the industry, they were easy picking for competitors (especially Microsoft) when Novell struggled and failed to provide them with timely, powerful, compelling new versions of Netware. No matter how successful or acclaimed, channel programs are weakened by long delays in product releases. Now Microsoft is vulnerable to the same tactics it used, perhaps even from Novell with SuSE.
This is not so much an issue for the industry as for Microsoft. Creative channel partners will find innovative ways to bring technology to their customers. The question is, with Longhorn delayed to 2006 or beyond, what is to stop competitors such as Linux from cherry picking Microsoft's best channel partners?
Scott Karren, The Channel Pro
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CNET listed three challenges for Microsoft currently due to its delays on Longhorn: "how to market XP this holiday season, what to do in the years before the next major operating system release, and what changes to make to Longhorn, if any, to ensure a timely update." A closely related forth challenge is that with a 3 year old operating system, Microsoft could lose the active support of its channel partners.
A VAR at CompTIA's Breakaway 2004 session earlier this month in Orlando said his business would be better if vendors focused more on delivering products and less on program gimmicks. It is a simple fact of the channel that for a channel partner to grow or even stay alive, they require fresh products to customize and sell.
The situation with Longhorn reminds me of Novell in the mid 1990's. Although its Platinum, Gold and Authorized resellers were among the most loyal in the industry, they were easy picking for competitors (especially Microsoft) when Novell struggled and failed to provide them with timely, powerful, compelling new versions of Netware. No matter how successful or acclaimed, channel programs are weakened by long delays in product releases. Now Microsoft is vulnerable to the same tactics it used, perhaps even from Novell with SuSE.
This is not so much an issue for the industry as for Microsoft. Creative channel partners will find innovative ways to bring technology to their customers. The question is, with Longhorn delayed to 2006 or beyond, what is to stop competitors such as Linux from cherry picking Microsoft's best channel partners?
Scott Karren, The Channel Pro
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