IBM’s PartnerWorld program, recently launched in the Middle East, is to form part of a series of market development initiatives designed to promote growth in the regional technology industry. The program will provide support for IBM resellers, partners and developers across the region through a comprehensive marketing and enablement program designed to build broader access to technology skills, services and capabilities for businesses in the Middle East.
“Broadening access to the IT market will be beneficial for customers and channel members alike. The more support given to the channel, the stronger the market will become in terms of choice, service and product development,” said Mourad Zohny, IBM Business Partner Organization Manager, Middle East. “And that will, in turn, drive access to richer capabilities for a larger number of companies in the region that today perhaps do not feel so confident in building out their technology resources.”
According to Zohny, the move to broaden the number of partners working with IBM’s offerings, in conjunction with increasing the depth of information, skills and capabilities available to them, will help to drive market growth in the region, particularly in the under-penetrated SMB segment.
“A lot of IT vendors have been talking about developing the SMB business, which is undoubtedly something of an untapped market in the region,” Zohny stated. “We believe that the way to do this is to give businesses access to better skills, better support and better service capabilities through investing in our partners.”