Channel Strategies for the CIOIBM offers a variety of enterprise and SMB IT products, including storage software, tape and disk systems, SANs, NAS, operating systems and servers. This checklist provides an overview of IBM PartnerWorld for service providers and value-added resellers (VARs) who are interested in becoming an IBM partner. All partners -- VARs, systems integrators, managed service providers -- get the same benefits, which are determined by the level or tier. Visit SearchITChannel.com's Technology Vendors/OEMs topic center to compare IBM's partner program with other vendors'. Or peruse our Partner Program Directories to learn about vendor partner programs by technology.
| Benefit | Reseller | Managed Service Provider | ||
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| Tier 1: Premier |
Tier 2: Advanced |
Tier 3: Member |
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| General Communications | ||||
| Partner advisory council participation/briefing sessions |  |
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| Monthly partner newsletter | |
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| Partner portal | |
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| Other | ||||
| Marketing and Communications | ||||
| Listed in partner Web locator/database | |
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| Partner webcasts | |
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| Market development funds | |
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| Press release support | |
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| Joint marketing campaigns | |
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| Online price information system | |
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| Other: | ||||
| Market intelligence and planning support | |
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| Marketing training (workshops, planning tools) | |
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| Advertising discounts | |
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| Use of IBM branding | |
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| Search engine optimization | |
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| Email and telemarketing support | |
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| Event marketing support | |
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| Marketing consultation and vendor support | |
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| IBM Awards | |
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| Published client success materials | |
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| Peer-to-peer networking | |
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| PWIN marketing and sales benefits | |
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| Technical Resources | ||||
| 24x7 phone technical support | |
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| Web-based support | |
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| Free dedicated technical support facility | |
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| Fee-based dedicated technical support facility | |
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| Packaged services available to resell | |
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| Other: | ||||
| Hardware purchase/lease | |
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| Free access to IBM servers and software | |
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| Early release software access | |
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| Development, porting and testing support | |
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| Demand Generation | ||||
| Business planning resources | |
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| Competitive price assistance | |
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| Qualified lead distribution | |
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| Sales cycle assistance | |
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| Not for resale demo software/hardware | |
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| For sale demo software/hardware | |
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| Partner leads system | |
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| Corporate account manager | |
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| Other: | ||||
| Sales dashboards | |
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| Financing support | |
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| Sales assessment tools | |
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| IBM Innovation Centers access and support | |
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| Client reference database listing | |
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| Vertical industry consultation and support | |
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| Training/Certification | ||||
| Opportunity to participate in beta testing | |
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| Free Web-based sales training | |
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| Free participation in sales workshops | |
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| Onsite sales training | |
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| Product certification | |
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| Discounted conference attendance | |
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| Other: | ||||
| IBM technical conferences | |
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| IBM PartnerWorld University and IBM Training | |
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This was first published in December 2007