By Mark Davison at IBM PartnerWorld, Las Vegas – Digital transformation has put the frighteners on many in the channel, but one veteran US reseller has successfully transitioned – and he has some sage advice to others looking to follow the same path.
Andy Lin, VP of Strategy for Mark III, explains that as a decades-old IBM Business Partner, the company has faced as many challenges through the years as Big Blue itself.
“Mark III has been an IBM Platinum Partner for the last 20 years,” Lin says. “And before that, it was a Business Partner since it was first established.” During these decades, he adds, Mark III has gone from a hardware specialist dabbling in software, to a services organisation, and now as a successful innovator in the Cognitive Age. Its latest innovation is in the area of audio analytics for call centres.
So what would his best advice be to more traditional resellers looking to move forward and confront this new, Digital Era?
“Philosophically, I believe that digital transformation is about still about technology, but it is more about organisational transformation,” he says. “Looking introspectively, the natural reaction of a reseller is to look at the technology, but you have to look at where your assets are in terms of talent and what your hidden talents are.
“We’ve gone through this transformation at Mark III ourselves,” Lin continues. “We had people who were not effective in the traditional business model, but have now come out and blossomed. Part of my job is to allow them to do what they do best. Don’t inhibit what they naturally do well. They may have a unique insight, good ideas, and the trick is to recompense them and then map out what you want to do.
“The natural way is usually that you’re not sure what way you want to go, so my advice is just pick one way – one direction – and go with it,” he says.
Lin says that channel members should identify what they are good at and follow a path based on this.
“You’ve got to look at yourself and identify what your strengths are and base your strategy on these strengths in combination with your traditional clients, as opposed to picking a certain technology because of marketing or what your technology partners advise you on.
“Our cognitive call centre, for example, was driven by a requirement from a client,” he adds. “It’s really about listening to what your client wants.”
Lin says that Mark III hasn’t rested on its laurels with its cognitive call centre and audio analytics, and is now actively involved in video analytics too.
“I’m still shocked by the fact that we put something out there and people call us from everywhere, all around the world,” he says. “We’ve been very pleasantly surprised by the market response.”