Sell storage solutions, not storage: that's where the value is. And the profit.

There are any number of catch phrases in the storage industry that some would just as soon move out of the lexicon. "Autonomic" is one that even the IBM originators wish would go away. "Virtualization" offers so many definitions that it frequently confuses more than it enlightens. "Utilization" is just a longer, clumsier way to say "use." "Lifecycle management" is not there yet, but its day may come.

One of the big cliche words is "solution." Many claim that the word has lost usefulness or has been debased by over-frequent use (not utilization). Setting aside the usefulness argument, I would suggest that "solution" continues to have some meaning in the storage world, especially that part of the world populated by integrators, OEMs and VARs.

What's The Difference?

Perhaps the first issue to addressed is the difference, any, between the sale of a storage point product and a storage solution.

Jim Ellis at Imation Data Storage and Information Management suggests that there is none. Says Ellis: "In our zeal to show that we can put ourselves in the customer's shoes, the tech industry has used the word 'solutions' much that it's lost its meaning. There is no real difference between a storage product and a solution: If the product doesn't solve a problem, no one will buy it. For example, a tape system is the most cost-effective product for solving the backup and archiving problem. You put in a storage network to solve the storage management problem across the company. And if you need help, you call in the consultants and integrators put it all together. Now you have a lot of products--and a solution."

This would seem to suggest that a storage solution is one or more storage products set to solve a problem. This seems also to be the viewpoint of IBM. CTR also asked Denise Buonaiuto, vice president of Storage Business Partner Sales at IBM's storage operation. She observed: "IBM encourages integrators and VARs to sell the product or solution that will bring the most benefit to a customer's business. One thing that does make IBM unique, however, is that they are able to offer a 'Total' Solution, with the widest selection of storage products of any vendor. The biggest strength that IBM can offer to its channel partners is a breadth and depth of products unmatched by any of our competitors."

But is an accumulation of products the only definition of a solutions sell? Probably not because IBM's Buonaiuto takes the role of the integrator or VAR beyond that of a mere salesperson with a line card and a margin calculation. She said: "What I tell partners when I visit them is that the real value they can bring to the table is to help the customer and act as a solutions architect for the customer's business problems. The best thing they can do is to help a customer either lower their costs or increase their revenues--or both--with the solution they are building. So, we offer education, incentives and demand generation collateral to our partners around the idea of selling solutions. Some examples of solutions can be found in industry solutions like Life Sciences or Digital Media. Another example is infrastructure solutions, like server consolidation and high availability for storage solutions, and--of course--our virtualization solution for helping customers manage their storage infrastructure more effectively."

"We really do not focus partners on individual product selling," she continued. "Yes, we give them the product education to do that and, yes, there are times a customer just wants to buy product and not a total solution, but we hope the partners will minimize the product sell and maximize their value with the solution sell."

This comment illustrates that there is, in fact, a difference between the "product sell" and the "solution sell" ... and that difference is the sale of value.

Storage Solutions Are Business Issues

As one might expect, Chris Wood, the director of Global Storage Technical Sales at Sun Microsystems, cuts to the heart of the matter and identifies storage solutions as a business issue, concerned more with value than with price.

"Solution Sales are almost always properly expressed in business terms vs. technical terms," says Wood. "A key point that has to be understood by the sales rep is that many (if not most) sales can be 'either type.' It's up to the sales representative to turn a "speeds and feeds" product sale into a solution sell. Point sales tend to turn on price while Solution Sales turn on value. For instance, let's take the very simple case of tape backup windows." Wood posits a hypothetical sales opportunity that would be expressed by a customer as follows: "We have ongoing reliability and throughput issues with our tape backup system. We are not making our backup window the time, and I need to fix this problem ASAP."

Wood continues, "A Point (or Product) sale response might be something like this: 'Here is a data sheet on our new LTO2 Fibre Channel tape offering. It has twice the throughput and reliability, takes up half the floor space and can be SAN-attached to support a LANLess backup architecture. May I prepare quote for you?'"

If you're very lucky, you're the only vendor asked to bid. More likely, the customer will solicit multiple bids for the same type of product and buy based on price as there is little to no explicit value-add differentiation between competing quotes. Sun's Wood provides this kind of dialog for a solutions sale response to the same proposition.

Integrator: "Why is it that you are not meeting your backup window? You seem to have quite a few tape drives on the floor."

Prospect: "Our window time has decreased to four hours because we have to keep our order-entry application live longer now that we have established several major new distributors in EMEA. I expect this will get worse, not better as we grow."

Integrator: "So, the problem is really a decreasing window, not necessarily a tape problem? For instance, if I could increase your backup to almost 24 hours, and develop a method where your order entry system was able to operate 24 hours a day, would that help with this problem?"

Obviously, the answer is yes. Wood reports that the "solution" that was sold included a SAN- attached PIT (Point in Time) copy facility, a backup server consolidation services engagement, additional disk for the PIT copies, and a new, dedicated backup server. The customer got vastly increased backup windows, rapid restore from the disk-based PIT copy and as a bonus, 7x24 order-entry availability.

The point to take from Wood's hypothetical is that the sale was consummated on value, not price, and the successful vendor has gained the trust and respect of the customer for delivering far more than some new hardware. He delivered the ability for the customer to continue to grow and compete while preserving his investment in hardware. This goes well beyond recommendation of a high-margin point product. It is a more sophisticated sell, and it sets the integrator up for more business later.

More Like A Consultant

Barba Hickman, vice-president of corporate and industry relations at Storage Technology Corporation (StorageTek), summarizes well for both her company and the industry at large.

"We are in a transition period in the high tech-industry, especially in storage. We have found that our customers are looking to vendors to be more of a consultant. Customers no longer want to buy boxes. Our research shows that customers prefer solutions. The days of straight product selling are over. Customers want consideration given to their existing infrastructure, and they expect account reps to serve in a collaborative role and act like partners who truly understand their business. That's why StorageTek's Information Lifecycle Management approach has resonated with the market--it is a holistic storage solution that accommodates the needs and expectations of customers. In fact, the foundation of StorageTek's Information Lifecycle Management strategy is based on a belief that vendors must understand that data has value which changes over time."

As Hickman also notes, "In order to create a sustainable storage management strategy, we must listen to customers and understand the value of their information and align storage costs with information's value. We must help our customers align the information with the appropriate points along the storage hierarchy. It is also worth reiterating that this is a simple example--data can be valued relative to process use, criticality, or time. Value is not just about aging."

The modern storage sale needs to start earlier in the purchasing cycle than ever before. The reseller must understand the operating system, network topology, legacy systems and much more. Products individually may solve a customer's problems, but a solutions focus has the integrator adding value, not only earning margin. Both worthy goals, I think. Funny how a cliche can prove itself out in the marketplace.