LANSA uses full range of IBM partner benefits to increase leads, sales and revenue

LANSA uses full range of IBM partner benefits to increase leads, sales and revenue

As LANSA celebrates its 20th anniversary and comes off yet another year of record sales and revenue, a constant from day one has been its partnership with IBM, which has flourished through the years and yielded enormous benefits for both companies. One of the oldest IBM Business Partners, LANSA has taken advantage of countless partner resources and programs to help build its business into a global industry leader.

Headquartered in the Chicago suburb of Downers Grove, Illinois, LANSA, a Premier IBM Business Partner, provides application development, integration and modernization tools and solutions to more than 7,000 customers in more than 60 countries. With its entire suite of products running on the IBM platform, LANSA seeks to reach the same customers as IBM and strives to go to market with IBM as much as possible.

Growing 10 to 15 percent annually the past two years, LANSA attributes much of its success to its relationship with IBM and particularly its participation in the IBM PartnerWorld Industry Networks, which offers a rich set of resources to all PartnerWorld members who want to build their vertical market capabilities and attract potential customers in the markets they serve worldwide. LANSA is “optimized” in the fabrication and assembly, wholesale, retail and insurance industries, which means it has developed further specialization by optimizing its applications with IBM technologies, achieving success with its own solutions and other criteria.

LANSA actively uses the full range of Industry Networks benefits to reach new markets and customers that it could never reach on its own, generate demand, close more sales and enhance its product development capabilities. In addition, LANSA is committed to the IBM Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) strategy—a layered framework for enabling business flexibility through linked individual business tasks. “Our IBM partnership has helped us grow in every way possible—from increasing the size of deals to entering new markets abroad,” said John Siniscal, LANSA president. “Of all the potential partners in the market, I’d rather be partnered with IBM than anyone else, without a doubt.”

Closing more deals, faster

Since it began using Industry Networks benefits, LANSA Website activity has more than doubled and response rates to campaign leads have doubled as well. Marian Cronin, field marketing manager, said that’s a direct result of leveraging a rich assortment of Industry Networks benefits in order to reach a wide a range of targeted customers as often as possible.

When it comes to revenue, Industry Networks helps close 20 percent of LANSA deals and increase the size of individual sales by 15 to 20 percent. “The great thing about PartnerWorld Industry Networks is it doesn’t just help us find opportunity, it helps us close opportunity—and that’s what makes it unique and invaluable,” said Greg Best, vice president of sales. With its industry focus, PartnerWorld Industry Networks helps LANSA better understand and penetrate specific markets. “It makes us smarter about how we go after a particular industry segment and then provides the right resources to win,” Best said. Direct mail, targeted professional telemarketing, joint press releases and case studies are among the key PartnerWorld resources that LANSA uses to create awareness, generate quality leads and reach more customers.

But simply having solutions listed on the IBM Business Partner Application Showcase and being promoted elsewhere across the IBM Website pays off. LANSA gets around 200 referrals from ibm.com each year and “people who come from the IBM site tend to stay on our Website longer than visitors from other sources,” Cronin said.

Also beneficial is the IBM ISV Advantage Initiative for Small and Medium Businesses, which is designed to drive the success of ISVs serving the midmarket and are committed to achieving a majority share of their business on IBM platforms and going to market with IBM. ISVs are invited to participate by IBM based on their ability to influence key markets served by IBM and their willingness to lead with IBM middleware and hardware. In return, partners receive help in developing and funding joint marketing plans, priority access to IBM porting and testing services, exposure to industry-focused IBM solutions marketing and sales organizations and agreement to target mutual sales and revenue goals.

“These matching funds are critical because the more we can go to market and associate ourselves with IBM, the better,” Siniscal said. “Co-branding with IBM increases our exposure significantly and gives us great credibility.” LANSA is now able to spend twice as much on marketing because of the co-funding.


Generating leads, joining forces to win

LANSA finds IBM resources so valuable that it eagerly pilots new programs, as it’s often invited to do, to better identify prospective leads and potential customers. In the United Kingdom and Germany last year, LANSA and IBM teamed in a pilot to identify and stimulate dormant accounts. They found companies that were in serious danger of leaving the platform and were able to prevent more than 20 of them from potentially replacing IBM, said Martin Fincham, general manager, Europe, Middle East and Africa.

Fincham said, “Working together is a much more effective way of beating back our competitors.” He explained that LANSA and IBM together can speak to every aspect of a customer’s hardware, software and services requirements, which is a very powerful way to fight all competition. LANSA leverages as many Industry Networks benefits and other IBM resources as possible to build its business around the world. It’s all the elements together, strategically combined, that comprise the LANSA recipe for success. For instance, LANSA has a blanket contract with IBM Global Services (IGS) that enables IGS to subcontract LANSA whenever necessary. Five to 10 percent of LANSA business comes through IGS.

Plus, about 20 percent of LANSA deals go through a lease, and LANSA relies on IBM Global Financing to handle the vast majority of those leases, Siniscal said.

IBM stamp of approval

LANSA is one of the first Business Partners to have software certified for its Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) compatibility and accepted into the IBM SOA Specialty. This validation is particularly crucial since SOA—a business-centric IT architectural approach that supports integrating a business as linked, repeatable business tasks—is such a hot topic these days for IBM and the entire IT industry. The IBM SOA software stack includes IBM DB2®, Tivoli®, Rational® and WebSphere®—all of which are integral components in LANSA solutions.

“SOA is really important to us because a key focus of development tools is modernization of legacy applications—and that’s what SOA is all about,” Siniscal said. “We need to get the message out about SOA and its value and we’re going to use IBM and our Industry Networks benefits to do so.”

Teaming with IBM pays off for LANSA in just about every element of its business. “It sometimes feels like David and Goliath—but this time Goliath is on your side, you’re fighting the same fight and you’ve got a huge army behind you,“ said Lori Piotrowski, public relations manager. Having its software validated for the IBM platform is one of the most important things LANSA does and contributes significantly to its success. It’s an instantly understood “stamp of approval” that helps make customers more comfortable buying LANSA products. “Being able to say that a product is IBM Server- or Storage-proven is a huge selling point,” Best said. “We always lead with a product’s “proven” status when we make presentations to new customers.”

LANSA counts on its partnership with IBM to assist it in most business endeavors, and that includes expanding into new markets around the world. “The first thing we do when we go into a new country is call on IBM, make them aware of our partner relationship, and request their assistance to help us find local partners and local opportunities that we can work on together,” Siniscal said.

But while LANSA clearly benefits from being an IBM Business Partner, this strong, enduring, deep-rooted relationship pays off handsomely for both IBM and LANSA. “LANSA enjoys truly remarkable resources and services as a PartnerWorld participant, but IBM also has great incentive to provide the best of everything to partners that deliver, as we do,” Siniscal said. “LANSA success has been intimately bound with IBM for two decades and will continue to be going forward—and we couldn’t be happier about that.”

IBM has recognized LANSA achievements through the years. For instance, LANSA won the IBM PartnerWorld 2006 Beacon Award for Best Industry Optimized Solution for LANSA Data Sync Direct, which helps manufacturers, distributors and retailers meet the requirements for global product-data synchronization.

LANSA has stand-out Business Partner scorecard

The following accomplishments provide a glimpse into the ongoing success LANSA enjoys in using IBM partner programs such as IBM PartnerWorld® Industry Networks and IBM ISV Advantage Initiative for Small and Medium Businesses:

• Revenue is at record levels with annual growth at 10 to 15 percent

• Helps close 20 percent of deals and increase the size of individual sales by 15 to 20 percent

• Over 200 new accounts signed since joining Industry Networks

• Response to marketing campaigns has doubled in past two years

• Matching funds from IBM enable LANSA to double its marketing spend

• One week of development time saved each time LANSA uses IBM Innovation Centers

• Smarter marketing investments at lower cost

Resources and services for every business need

Here is a selection of the Industry Networks benefits that LANSA uses and the value each continues to provide:

Sales Connections

“Bringing IBM on sales calls can be key to clinching a deal,” said Greg Best, vice president of sales. “Sales Connections helps us bring the right IBM people in at the right time to close business—fast.” In fact, bringing IBM sales reps, executives or specialists on joint sales calls can be instrumental in changing a customer’s mind if it’s ready to take its business elsewhere. In one instance, a major bank was about to select a competing solution, but once IBM got involved and helped work the deal, the customer brought its account to LANSA instead.

Direct mail and telemarketing

Using the IBM Campaign Designer tool and its customizable templates, LANSA creates professional, cost-effective direct mail pieces quickly and easily and uses IBM prospect lists to target potential customers. LANSA also engages IBM professionals, at a discounted rate, to conduct telemarketing campaigns. “One of the fantastic benefits of working closely with IBM is that you get access to their customer database,” said Marian Cronin, manager of field marketing. “Plus, we have the IBM logo on the mail piece next to ours, which speaks volumes.”

IBM published case study

Over the past two years, IBM has researched, written, designed and published five case studies that showcase LANSA solutions and successes. These brochures have proven invaluable in reaching prospective customers and exposing LANSA solutions to IBM sales teams, partners and clients. LANSA sales teams routinely present the case studies to potential customers when making sales calls. “They’re very important because they lend credibility to what we’re saying about our products,” Best said. They’re also available on the LANSA Website and posted on the IBM site. “We regularly get calls from potential customers who say, ‘We saw your case study online and want to talk to you about it,’” Best said.

Client events package

LANSA has hosted eight joint customer briefings with IBM and plans to do more. These include seminars at IBM facilities as well as Webinars—many of which featured IBM speakers presenting the latest LANSA and IBM strategies and solutions. “With IBM handling the logistics, I don’t have to pull my sales people off the street to plan these events,” Best said. IBM clearly helps attract customers and “absolutely brings in new business,” Best said. “At our most recent meetings, our attendance was up 25 percent over events we had done on our own—and that’s because of IBM participation.”

Industry networks connection events

LANSA has attended connection events in the US and Australia to gain insight into specific industry trends and resources and network with IBM representatives and Business Partners focused on the same industry. “The events provide an outstanding opportunity to hear how IBM is approaching specific markets, and it’s valuable to meet other partners in the same network with whom we can engage in joint projects,” said Gordon Davies, vce president, Asia Pacific.

solutions-daily.com

LANSA president John Siniscal peruses solutions-daily.com several times a week to keep up with industry news and events, while public relations manager Lori Piotrowski does so as well to look for press release and case study ideas. LANSA vice president of sales, Greg Best, did a solutions-daily podcast last year about RAMP—the new modernization tool from LANSA—and hopes to do more this year. “It’s yet another valuable mechanism to get our message out to prospective customers and other partners.”

Industry research and analysis

The latest industry insights and information are available when LANSA needs to understand a market and prepare to engage a new customer. LANSA European Operations makes great use of this database of reports, market research, slides, diagrams and statistics—which even includes advice on what language to use and questions to ask potential clients in specific industries. “This resource allows my field organization to appear extremely knowledgeable and deliver real industry expertise when engaging prospects,” said Martin Fincham, general manager, Europe, Middle East and Africa.

Technical Webcasts

LANSA stays up to date with the latest plans for IBM products and services by regularly listening to technical Webcasts. “They let us arm ourselves with as much knowledge as possible about upcoming IBM innovations so we can apply them to our solutions when necessary,” said Don Nelson, vice president of customer support. “Our customers expect us to always be ahead of the curve, and the Webcasts help us do just that.”

Extending LANSA development and test capabilities

One of the most valuable benefits LANSA enjoys from its Industry Networks partnership is the ability to use IBM Innovation Centers to test and verify its solutions across different platforms. Using the centers saves LANSA a tremendous amount of time and money and allows it to develop the best and most IBM-compatible products possible.

IBM has more than 30 centers worldwide that provide Business Partners with access to IBM technical expertise and cross-platform environments to help them design, implement, port and test their applications. LANSA uses the centers to test new LANSA offerings during the development cycle while LANSA business partners that write their applications with LANSA software also use the centers for scalability testing.

“We used the Innovation Centers to test our LANSA 2005 development and integration suite to verify that anything built on our software will run and scale on any platform,” said Don Nelson, vice president of customer support. “IBM enables us to test on a wide range of large-scale systems that we could never afford to buy ourselves.”

Besides saving millions of dollars on hardware costs, LANSA saves one week in development time each time it uses the Innovation Centers because IBM sets up and configures the systems for the tests—meaning no LANSA employee has to do so. Further time and cost savings come from using the Innovation Centers virtually and not having to travel to test locations.

LANSA runs most of its tests remotely using a secure virtual private network provided by IBM. “This way, we can have experts from LANSA, IBM and our customer or partner look at the test simultaneously from anywhere in the world and provide input and evaluation,” Nelson said.

Reaping the fruits of a long-term relationship

The longstanding partnership LANSA has with IBM pays off in countless ways beyond black-and-white offerings, programs and services. Within the framework of the Industry Networks benefits and the ISV Advantage Initiative for Small and Medium Businesses, a deep level of trust and personal relationships have taken the partnership to a whole new level. These relationships have grown as LANSA has climbed the partnership ladder from regular through advanced to premier Business Partner status and become optimized in four PartnerWorld Industry Networks.

”It’s important to be optimized because that’s where you really start to get the personal attention and develop personal contacts,” said John Siniscal, LANSA president. “We wouldn’t be where we are if it wasn’t for the closeness of our relationship with IBM.”

Marian Cronin, field marketing manager, echoes the widespread sentiment at LANSA that “IBM is very responsive to our needs, and our contacts there are incredibly accessible.”

IBM has regular conference calls with LANSA to review its use of Industry Networks offerings and brainstorm about ways to maximize results. “IBM is very proactive about coming to us with new opportunities and pilot programs to participate in and suggesting ways to improve our marketing,” Cronin said.

IBM is also exceptionally helpful from a technical standpoint. “Whenever we have a technology question, we can talk to someone with the appropriate expertise and quickly get the answer we require,” said Don Nelson, vice president of customer support. “The degree of access we have to top IBM people really amazes me. You’d never expect this from a company of this size.”

According to Cronin, “Almost everybody we interact with at IBM serves in almost a consultant capacity. They’re as committed to our success as we are.”