How can solution providers differentiate themselves from competition?
Solution providers battle with that question every day. I'm a firm believer that instead of riding the coattails of a vendor, the best solution providers are bringing new ideas to their clients before anyone else. For example, this can be wrapped around ideas involving ITIL (IT Infrastructure Library) and how the technology affects the client's business. Ideas related to important initiatives like virtualization and green IT also fit into this discussion.
Solution providers shouldn't just discuss the advantages of technologies. There should also be a frank discussion of challenges, because deploying one technology often creates other challenges in a client's organization -- if the client isn't prepared and those challenges have not been thought through, everyone suffers.
Return to the top VAR business concerns guide and read the rest of Paul's expert responses.
