According to IBM its pricing on a range of new Intel server configurations is further proof of its commitment to the channel.
Catherine Blinkhorn, manager IBM systems and technology group, says this is no one-off marketing campaign but part of an ongoing plan to help partners target the small to medium enterprise (SME) market.
“We listened to what our partners and SME end-users were asking for and delivered. In the last 18 months IBM has grown its share of units sold through the reseller community and plans to continue that,” she says.
Blinkhorn says IBM has set a pricing benchmark for configurations — based on its x206 and x226 servers — but not at the expense of reseller margins and rebates.
She insists IBM will not be going direct with these offers.
In addition to lower prices IBM has introduced a 48-hour delivery policy with more incentives to be rolled out next year.
“This raises the bar for delivery, which is important because SMEs tend to want servers very quickly. Combine this with nationwide onsite support and you have a unique offer.”
