Yesterday I was reading through one of the 15 million RSS feeds I have set up in my reader, NetVibes. As you know, it is a full-time job to keep up with everything that is going on in the world of technology today. However, NetVibes has done a great job of at least filtering out most of the crap quite easily for me. But that’s not what I have to say today (although if you aren’t already using NetVibes, I do highly recommend it). There was one particle article which caught my attention more than most, as it related pretty directly to what I do on a daily basis.

Deborah Rothberg, of ChannelInsider.com, briefly discussed the fast-growing trend of IT executives using what she called “Channel Brokers” to help manage their environments. This, according to Forrester Research, is a great way for CIO’s and CTO’s to concentrate on more pressing, less confusing things other than the estimated half-trillion-dollar-plus multiyear outsourcing deals they all have. As I was reading through the various examples of “Channel Brokers” Rothberg and Forrester mentioned, I realized this is what I do! (Well, almost….) It’s amazing how new titles can just creep up on you sometimes… Here is a good way of summarizing what they define as a Channel Broker:

“Advisory firms help customers with the strategic decision-making that precedes a transaction, making sure that the sourcing goals are tied clearly to business objectives. Advisory firms are also hired to pace the march to a signed contract and in some cases, helping to ensure a successful launch, according to the report.”

However, there is so much more than that! A Channel Broker will do a lot to improve your bottom line (and hopefully help correct that ulcer), but if a company is going to ask for help managing it’s contracts (whether we’re talking about hardware, applications, moves/changes, telecommunications, M&A or whatever), do they really expect the “Channel Broker” to just manage the process, perhaps oversee the implementation and then bugger off? I don’t really think that’s a valuable service. Without a doubt, ensuring that your technology environment agrees with your business objectives is crucial (and we certainly do as well), however what also do for you is to actually manage all of those complex relationships for you long after the implementation is complete.

Forrester discusses that this is a growing market (we like hearing that), but with good reason! With the complex landscape constantly stretching before every executive, they have to manage the company’s strategy, bottom line, employees, infrastructure, etc. So wouldn’t it make sense to keep IV and our bag of tricks, knowledge and partners on your hip to assist? I just hope this title of Channel Broker can be expanded to ALL areas of technology AND to the process after the sale (where the majority of costs come from: the management part). This WE call: Managed Services. It’s more than just brokering a good deal and ensuring everything is set up properly, it’s about creating a process by which you save money, time, effort and trips to buy Tums!