CHANNEL CHIEF
DANIEL SIM , Senior Director , Channel Business , Asia , Vertiv , a global provider of critical digital infrastructure and continuity solutions . Sim talks about his current job role and how Vertiv is working with distributors and partners across the IT and mechanical and electrical ( M & E ) verticals in Southeast Asia through to Australia and New Zealand .
Describe your current job role and the parts that are somewhat challenging ?
As senior director of channel business for Asia , I work closely with distributors and partners across the IT and mechanical and electrical ( M & E ) verticals , supporting them to improve the buyer experience and ensure ease of doing business with us . Asia is a vast region and the markets throughout – from Southeast Asia through to Australia and New Zealand – have differing needs , expectations , and growth rates . Partner enablement is a huge part of my role , ensuring the local channel can meet today ’ s and – more importantly – tomorrow ’ s challenges .
Can you explain how your company works with channel partners ?
We work to ensure our partners have the tools , resources and expertise onhand to serve their customers better and increase profitability . The recent relaunch of the Vertiv Partner Programme ( VPP ), for example , builds on our channel-first strategy to ensure ease of doing business with us .
Following last year ’ s launch via a gamified Vertiv Partner Portal , the latest update to the VPP includes enhanced incentives programmes , enablement activities , social media community management and equips distributors and resellers with B2C and B2B e-commerce programmes .
Ultimately , we want to give our partners a fuller experience , and that means enablement throughout the entire sales cycle . Our next step is to deliver a single interface portal where partners can access standard resources – training , registrations , rebates – as well as a platform to load purchase orders ( POs ), track product deliveries and more .
How do you ensure channel partners flourish in a highly competitive market ?
Public sector and private businesses alike are looking to overcome barriers – old and new – quickly and easily , and that means they need locally reliable , on-the-ground support . With a Swiss Army Knife of infrastructure solutions , we help our partners react fast and create value propositions for robust , next-generation deployments that recognise sustainable design , development and use .
What are the latest trends you see emerging across the channel ?
The channel has been a force for industry consolidation in the last 18 months , and vendors play a significant role in the art of integration post-transaction . Organisations need a strong knife to cut through , so arming IT and M & E partners with a full line of data centre solutions will be critical to keeping pace with the market .
Plus , with COVID-19 continuing to impact the region , the ability to transact and install from anywhere , at any time is ever present . Without events and roadshows , partners need to find other methods for continuous reach and that ’ s where e-commerce will extend beyond B2C and become a driving force in B2B . Tapping into the pandemic accelerated shift towards a more digital economy , triggering changes in online shopping behaviours , e-commerce will equip partners with the tools they need to succeed .
But shifting to a more digital economy also means we ’ re creating and leveraging more
Daniel Sim , Director , Channel Business , Asia , Vertiv
INTELLIGENT TECH CHANNELS Issue 47 61