I am at Channel Partners Expo in Vegas (speaking tomorrow at 9 AM). It is all about cloud and the channel here. It makes me ask: Are you Channel Ready?

Do you have a service offering that is channel ready?

Is that service easy to quote, explain, define and order?

Do you have a clear, concise value proposition? Because let's face it, everyone sells the same stuff.

Do you have sales engineers and channel managers?

What does Customer Care look like?

On the other side, what does the ideal partner look like?

Most VAR's are not good at sales, so your service will have to compliment their current services. It will be an add-on sale.

Read that again, because they won't be chasing new business. They will be trying to figure out if any of their current customers can use your service offering, how much can they make from it, and how will it affect their current vendor relationships (and quota).

If you are chasing Agents, they are good at new customer acquisition, but what about channel conflict, rules of engagement, and protected accounts?

How easy is it to sell? How will you support the customer without VAR involvement if it is an Agent?

Food for thought for the show.