Manufacturers Have No Choice But To Go Around Their Partners And Find Excuses To Do So

This is now an old story, in an industry where there are so many manufacturers out there making pretty much the same thing and when said manufacturer(s) can't get systems integrator to sell/lead with their solution (for what ever reason i.e. the product sucks, the integrator already has relationships/commitments etc.) and when everyone wants to rule the world (i.e. capitalism and the human condition) then the manufacturer has no choice but to go around their partners and find excuses to do so.

I have been in a former customer's office a while back that I was losing to find out why and on the floor in the guys office was an EXACQ server in an ADI box, no lie (but they don't sell direct I as told, hah!).

I have Avigilon sales people meeting with a Police Chief and somehow convincing this poor guy that their ACS solution is the best thing on the market and now he is demanding that his Architect make Avigilon proprietary - for access control, hah!

I had Axis management up my you know what, because they found out that I carried/substituted, on a public project, Samsung instead of the specified Axis PTZ cameras (this helped me win the project). They were upset because they had met with the end user to get Axis specified and couldn't comprehend why I used Samsung. They didn't meet the consultant, no - they met the end user and felt they earned the business...

We got an access control manufacturer (a real product that has been around for many years) that has their rep (he works for the man.) literally offering to perform the programming! He does what we do, hits the street looking for greenfield opportunities and calls on them no different than we do.

I have been to several ACCC conferences, I am always dumbfounded when they drag the same guy from some cruise line up to talk about how great Axis is, year after year. Where is he buying his cameras? Who is installing them? Wouldn't it make more sense if their partners were #1 to have the partner speak, not the end user? If Celebrity Cruise Line is using a real systems integrator - who set's the price or is the price dictated by Axis in a direct relationship with the Cruise Line.

This is fun, I could go on and on....

NOTICE: This comment was moved from an existing discussion: Axis Wins $20 Billion Retailer With End To End Solution