Arrow ECS IBM Group Newsletter

Invitation: IBM Portal Excellence Conference 2009 in San Diego

 

Attention Arrow Lotus partners. Registration is now open for the 2009 IBM Portal Excellence Conference. Please review the information below for details. 

If you are unable to read the HTML e-mail below, please view it online.

 

Register today! Use priority code 109AG05E.

Join us at the IBM® Portal Excellence Conference 2009 – Americas , formerly the IBM WebSphere Portal Technical Conference, in sunny San Diego , CA . See how WebSphere® Portal solutions from IBM can help you to leverage Web 2.0 services and extend your IT investments to improve business results and agility from platform and service industry experts. Learn about the innovations delivered by WebSphere Portal Version 6.X—including enhanced Web 2.0 and standards support, improved performance and updated portal-based IBM Accelerator solutions. The 2009 conference also offers: • Insights into key business issues and emerging technologies • Direct interaction with product, partner and peer experts • New products, showcased by IBM experts and IBM Business Partners • More than 125 presentations and hands-on product labs • "Meet the Architects" panel discussions • Birds-of-a-Feather discussions • On-site certification tests (New in 2009: First Lotus® test is free. Second is 50% off.) Take advantage of this annual gathering of portal experts to expand your knowledge, make valuable contacts and gain a competitive edge.	WebSphere Portal & Web 2.0 make a winning team. Register today for the IBM Portal Excellence Conference 2009 – Americas
	Use priority code 109AG05E.

IBM Portal Excellence Conference 2009 — Americas October 12-15, 2009 Sheraton San Diego Hotel and Marina IBM Solution Providers only: Business Development Day Sunday, October 11

© Copyright IBM Corporation 2009. All Rights Reserved. IBM, the IBM logo, ibm.com, Lotus and WebSphere are trademarks or registered trademarks of International Business Machines Corporation in the United States , other countries, or both. If these and other IBM trademarked terms are marked on their first occurrence in this information with a trademark symbol (® or ™), these symbols indicate U.S. registered or common law trademarks owned by IBM at the time this information was published. Such trademarks may also be registered or common law trademarks in other countries. A current list of IBM trademarks is available on the Web at "Copyright and trademark information" at www.ibm.com/legal/copytrade.shtml. Other company, product and service names may be trademarks or service marks of others. References in this e-mail to IBM products or services do not imply that IBM intends to make them available in all countries in which IBM operates.

 

YLess than a week till the IBM Business Partner webcast - Register now!

In less than one week, the IBM Global Business Partner Organization presents a leadership webcast you don't want to miss. On June 9 at 11:00 a.m. EDT "The Business Partner Leadership Agenda: Building a Smarter Planet" webcast debuts!

This is your opportunity to hear from IBM Chairman, President and CEO Sam Palmisano as he addresses the IBM Business Partner community about how together we are uniquely positioned to lead the way in creating a smarter planet. Joining Sam is globally renowned journalist Fareed Zakaria, who is widely respected for his ability to spot economic and political trends around the world. His perspective on the world's economy is fascinating. IBM Global Business Partner General Manager Rich Hume also gives a midyear check-point for the Business Partner community.

The webcast also serves as this year's forum for presenting the IBM Beacon Awards, which recognize some of the best Business Partner solutions available today. Join Rich Hume as he announces this year's Beacon Awards winners in the lights of Times Square in New York City.

Date: Tuesday, June 9, 2009
Time: 11:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. EDT

Please take a few minutes now to register for the debut webcast as well as subsequent replays.

https://www-304.ibm.com/jct01005c/partnerworld/mem/learn/sel_bpds.html

VAE Recertifcation Deadline Date is May 31st

New dates are: Aug 11-14th and the new registration link is:

https://www.onlineregistrationcenter.com/register.asp?m=135&c=762

System x Programs & Promotions Review

As we head into the Q2 home-stretch, it's more important than ever that you are leveraging all available System x programs and promotions to win business!  Arrow ECS will be offering a "System x Programs and Promotions Overview" with IBM's Brian Kielty next week to ensure that you are fully armed to identify, qualify and close your opportunities.  This will be a general audience call with both Arrow ECS and Business Partner reps encouraged to attend.

Presentation materials will be sent to registered attendees after the call.

Date: June 3rd, 2009

Time: 2:00 - 3:00 pm ET

Location & Registration:https://arrow.webex.com/arrow/onstage/g.php?t=a&d=712058749

Call in #:866-793-1308

Presenter: Richard Allan & Brian Kielty

Arrow is pleased to announce the Impact Comes To You (ICTY) events for June.

Arrow is pleased to announce the Impact Comes To You (ICTY) events for June. You will have 2 options:

1. IBM Led ICTY - IBM will be responsible for event management, agenda, presentations, food and give away to encourage customers to visit partner tables. Partners will be invited to host tables, meet and greet customers and be responsible for driving 3 to 5 customer attendees. Any partner attending this event will be asked to bring at least 1 customer with them.

2. Partner Led ICTY - Partners will be responsible for event management and agenda selection. IBM can help with
a. Speakers
b. Co-marketing funds
c. ICTY in a box
d. Promoting your event to the local team

Action Required For IBM Led IMPACT:
Please let me know if you would like to host a table at any of the IBM led events by May 30th. Space is limited and tables will be awarded on a first come first server basis. Here are the cities and the information I need from you to participate

LOCATION	Partner Company	Partner Contact for this event	Contact Phone #	Contact email	Logo and 50 word description of company
6/3 New York city Millennium
6/10 Toronto Fairmont
6/16 Washington DC Reston Hyatt
6/16 Seattle Westin
6/17 Columbus OCLC
6/18 San Francisco W Hotel
6/24 King of Prussia Crown Plaza
6/25 Omaha Marriott

Your Action for your Own ICTY:
Take a look at the list of cities above and pick a different city to host an event. Please send a note to Sandy Bickett at sbickett@us.ibm.com ASAP and let her know what city you are interested in hosting. As soon as the information is provide IBM will schedule a meeting with the local team, and they we will help you execute.

Value Added Services and Contract Team

Value Added Services and Contract Team

Mike Case, Director - Atlanta / mcase@arrow.com

Melissa Cook, Manager-Contracts - Atlanta / kcook@arrow.com

Rose Wagner, Value Added Services  - Atlanta / rwagner@arrow.com

Cathy Terhune, Value Added Services - Indianapolis / cterhune@arrow.com

Gina Lanner, Value Added Services - Cleveland /  glanner@arrow.com

The Arrow Value Added Services and Contract teams are here to assist all Arrow Business Partners, and Sales personnel on all matters relating to IBM Value Adds and Special Bid Certification, including, but not limited to:

* PreSale Assistance – Opportunity VAE strategy - Will this VAE work for this opportunity?  Can I count this toward BVM?  Can I sell this using Sale Into Qualified Processor?

• Post-Sale Audit Assistance – Help you to put together proper documentation for IBM to review
• General Q&A / Training
• Special Bid Certification – assist SPs with navigating through the BCC tool, reviewing cert packages, etc.

HOT TOPICS / REMINDERS :

CERTIFICATIONS :

Business Partners approved for the Geographic Resource, U.S. State & Local Government and the Education Industry VAE must update their certifications by May 31, 2009 in order to maintain VAE approval.  Please refer to Channel Communication CC0903-106 for complete details.

Partners approved to market IBM Power Systems with IBM i (System i) and IBM Power Systems with AIX (System p) are required to recertify by August 31, 2009.  Please refer to announcement 508-804 for complete details.

Solution Incentive Audits :

Solution Incentive program - REMINDER:  IBM is auditing 100% of transactions where the Solution Incentive bid code is used, so please contact Arrow should you require clarification before using this code.

IBM ISS Nabs First Gold Award for Security Effectiveness Given in Five Years

-“No vendor has been able to achieve this certification in the past five years!  Until now!”

IBM Proventia Network IPS GX6116 blocks more then 95% of the exploits in the Security Update Monitor (SUM) program. After vigourous testing NSS Labs Network Intrusion Prevention System certification test awards IBM ISS the NSS gold award. IBM is the only vendor to receive this award in five years.

For more information about IBM Proventia Network IPS GX6116 contact Arrow ECS’ Security Solutions Manager Jason Price at japrice@arrow.com

Read more about this award and how it can be helpful to have this product for your company below:

http://www-931.ibm.com/bin/newsletter/tool/landingPage.cgi?lpId=1646&open&cm_mmc=5238-_-n-_-vrm_newsletter-_-10944_112564&cmibm_em=dm:0:15519939

BP Advantage Newsline call June 3: Economic Stimulus update

You are invited to join IBM Channel Marketing on June 3, 2009 for the IBM Business Partner Advantage Newsline webcast. We will provide you with a deep dive on the Economic Stimulus opportunities and how your firm can benefit. Also find out how to get only the mail you want from IBM by updating your PartnerWorld Profile.

Note: Starting this month our audio coordinates for the call have changed. Be sure to include the new telephone number and passcode on your calendar (marked in red below).

Agenda
*Welcome
*Update the PartnerWorld Profiling System and receive less mail
*Economic Stimulus overview
*Q&A

Web access and call-in details
Date: Wednesday, June 3, 2009
Time: Noon - 1:00 p.m. ET. No registration required.

Webcast: sametimeunyte.com. Select "Join a Meeting"
Webcast ID: 3163634

If you have not used Sametime Unyte previously, we recommend that you complete a system check beforehand: Unyte Meeting System Check

Audio Dial-in: (800) 475-4945 or (773) 799-3307. NEW!
Passcode: NEWSLINE.

Presentations can also be found on the day of the call at: www.ibm.com/partnerworld/mem/newsline

Replay
A replay will be available for one month after the date of the call.
Dial-in: (866) 421-6936 or (203) 369-0826. Passcode: 1950.

For questions, contact Claire Colle at ccolle@ca.ibm.com.

MPower Portal - On Demand Video’s

Dear MPower Partner:

Join Arrow ECS on the MPower Portal to view new Midmarket On Demand Videos. You don’t have to schedule a meeting to view these videos; they can be viewed at the convenience of your own time and space. These videos will support your efforts in marketing, solutions offerings, and portal help videos.

A few of the new On Demand Videos that have been posted is The Power of Marketing. The Power of Marketing is a webinar that discusses the worth of successful marketing and also strategies and objectives that increase the value of marketing. IBM offers two new ways to interact with your consumers on demand through IBM RSS Overview  and IBM APK Overview. IBM RSS Overview  will engage and attract consumers by offering new ways to interact with your business through innovative solutions. IBM APK Overview introduces the anytime IBM Kiosk System which will allow for new point of sale opportunities on demand and also allow consumers to interact and transact with your brand. Finally MPower Smart Cart has posted two new videos that allow a better understanding of the new MPower Smart Cart which allows you to log on directly through the MPower Portal to enroll directly in MPower Programs. 

We look forward to providing the tools you need to succeed in the midmarket. To see these On Demand Video's log on to the portal today!

On Demand Videos

 

Partners can save $400.....and so can their customers

Arrow partners selling IBM software within the Information Management brand can take advantage of early bird discounts at this year's Information On Demand (IOD) Conference.  

• IOD 2009 registration is open. We are offering a $400 discount for those who register by August 31.

Early Bird Fee: $1,895 USD per person until August 31, 2009
Standard Fee: $2,195 USD per person September 1 – October 24
On Site Fee: $2,295 USD per person October 25 – 29

• Customer groups of 10+ can also rec've a free pass.

Bring your team to Information On Demand 2009! For every 10 registered members of your firm, your firm will receive 1 complimentary registration valued at $2,195 USD (accommodation not included). Administrators must contact us via e-mail at: IOD2009@meetingconsultants.com to set up a unique registration code for your company.

• Hotel discounts available if you register before July 16

Early Bird Rate:
Mandalay Bay Resort - $169.00 per night (Single / Double) USD
THEhotel - $199.00 per night (Single / Double) USD

Standard Rate beginning July 16, 2009:
Mandalay Bay Resort - $189.00 per night (Single / Double) USD
THEhotel -$219 per night (Single / Double) USD

• Complete details & to register:

http://www-01.ibm.com/software/data/conf/registration.html