Listening to Mark Hennessy, IBM's general manager, global business partners, at the PartnerWorld conference it is clear exactly how important business partners are to IBM's success, both past and future. Business partners, IBM's generic term for "channel partners" are increasingly meaning MSPs. In fact, IBM currently has roughly 3,000 MSPs as partners today.
Typically you hear vendors discuss MSPs when trying to recruit them. And make no mistake, IBM is undeniably interested in meeting and recruiting MSPs. However, there is an obvious sincerity in these statements from IBM because there are a lot of opportunities with customers that are only accessible via MSPs and the relationships they possess.
There are two IBM "customers" here with their MSPs discussing new relationships involving IBM solutions as an obvious nod towards the importance of MSPs to the overall success of IBM, particular in the area of big data analytics, cloud, and infrastructure.
Takeaway? MSPs can expect to see a lot more from IBM within the channel in 2013, and MSPs would be well served to pay attention to what is going on at IBM.
