Ajay Mittal, who took over as Director, Systems & Technology (STG) Group, IBM, a few months back, has plenty on his plate. First and foremost he follows in the footsteps of Alok Ohrie, who is regarded as a tall leader.
Second, Ohrie has joined IBM’s arch-rival Dell, and speculation is that many senior managers from STG are likely to join him.
Third, IBM is in the process of transformation, and has declared its intention of exiting the xSeries server which has been the cornerstone of its channel GTM. This exit will impact IBM’s addressable channel market.
Nevertheless, partners who know him well swear that Mittal is a focused and an aggressive sales leader with a no-nonsense approach and is perhaps the ideal person to lead IBM STG through its transformation.
Observes Neel Shah, Director, Insight Business Machines, Mumbai, “Mittal is an aggressive sales and relationship person, and this characteristic will help him drive STG through the slowdown and impending transformation. His priority of course will be to stabilize the organization as there is too much speculation around the xSeries business and which senior manager will join Ohrie.”
IBM is on a strong footing as far as most of the STG business goes. Its Power series is the only server platform growing in the RISC-Unix market. Pureflex has found acceptance among customers, and partners are happy with the traction seen so far. IBM’s GTM for storage has also been appreciated.
According to partners, Mittal needs to focus on further improving the company’s channel programs and engagement.
“The first thing I would like Mittal to review is IBM’s decision earlier this year to split its channel engagement into two teams—Channel Business Sales Specialists and Business Sales Specialists. He should also review the role of the coverage team from IBM General Business in partner-led accounts. There is no clear customer demarcation between all these teams, and as a result multiple partners and IBM reps are interacting with customers,” adds Shah.
Partners also complain that over the past 6-8 months IBM’s decision-making around deal registration, rebate pay-outs and special price clearance has become time-consuming. Says Suresh HR, Director, Central Data Systems, Bengaluru, “In the fast few months IBM has lost its market aggression and agility at a time when other vendors have become more aggressive.”
Second, Ohrie has joined IBM’s arch-rival Dell, and speculation is that many senior managers from STG are likely to join him.
Ajay Mittal takes up the new role at a time when IBM is planning to exit the x86 server market which is the mainstay of its channel business
Third, IBM is in the process of transformation, and has declared its intention of exiting the xSeries server which has been the cornerstone of its channel GTM. This exit will impact IBM’s addressable channel market.
Nevertheless, partners who know him well swear that Mittal is a focused and an aggressive sales leader with a no-nonsense approach and is perhaps the ideal person to lead IBM STG through its transformation.
Observes Neel Shah, Director, Insight Business Machines, Mumbai, “Mittal is an aggressive sales and relationship person, and this characteristic will help him drive STG through the slowdown and impending transformation. His priority of course will be to stabilize the organization as there is too much speculation around the xSeries business and which senior manager will join Ohrie.”
IBM is on a strong footing as far as most of the STG business goes. Its Power series is the only server platform growing in the RISC-Unix market. Pureflex has found acceptance among customers, and partners are happy with the traction seen so far. IBM’s GTM for storage has also been appreciated.
According to partners, Mittal needs to focus on further improving the company’s channel programs and engagement.
“The first thing I would like Mittal to review is IBM’s decision earlier this year to split its channel engagement into two teams—Channel Business Sales Specialists and Business Sales Specialists. He should also review the role of the coverage team from IBM General Business in partner-led accounts. There is no clear customer demarcation between all these teams, and as a result multiple partners and IBM reps are interacting with customers,” adds Shah.
Partners also complain that over the past 6-8 months IBM’s decision-making around deal registration, rebate pay-outs and special price clearance has become time-consuming. Says Suresh HR, Director, Central Data Systems, Bengaluru, “In the fast few months IBM has lost its market aggression and agility at a time when other vendors have become more aggressive.”
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