Best Channel Vendors 2010
By Mike Monocello, Chief Editor, Business Solutions
Happy New Year and welcome to our 2nd annual Best Channel Vendors issue! No survey is perfect, but we feel that last year's Best Channel Vendor report was the best survey of the IT reseller channel ever conducted. I'm proud to say that this year's special report is even better than last year's due to improvements made based on feedback from resellers. This special report wouldn't be possible if not for our VAR subscribers taking the time to fill out our exhaustive survey. In all, more than 12,000 votes were cast by 1,354 VARs! (For details on the Best Channel Vendors survey methodology, click here.)
You might be wondering what's different with this special report compared to last year's. Of course, there are many new names on the list of winners. Additionally, you'll notice that we have a more exclusive list of winners compared to last year. Indeed, in our first survey, there were 169 winners while this year there are 122. Over the past year, we were happy to learn that many VARs use the results of our surveys as a way to identify new vendors with which to partner. Additionally, many VARs used the issue as a sales tool, taking the issue on sales calls to prove to customers that the solutions being offered were from those of an award-winning vendor. With a more refined list, those vendors earning the mark of Best Channel Vendor became more exclusive, and your ability to use this report as a sales tool has become even stronger. As with our Best Channel Products report, keep this issue on your bookshelf and add this web address to your favorites: www.BSMinfo.com/BestVendors2010.
Additionally, using the data collected, we were also able to analyze the areas where today's vendors are failing. On page 36 you'll find a special analysis on the negative anecdotes left by the survey respondents. While we won't name names, the analysis does provide interesting insight on the current state of the VAR-vendor relationship.
As always, we welcome any feedback you can provide on our survey and this special report. Your input will help us continue to refine the survey and make next year's Best Channel Vendor report even more valuable than this year's. Mike.Monocello@BSMinfo.com