In the Software Group within Arrow Enterprise Computing Solutions (ECS), Laura Hurlbut reports that it’s an exciting time as the team finds new opportunities to help ECS’s reseller partners.

“It’s our job in the Software Group to help our partners look beyond the hardware; we should look across the groups and technologies that Arrow has to offer and find how they can fit together as solutions for our partners’ customers,” explains Hurlbut, business development manager.

Hurlbut tries to maintain the perspective of a reseller, which comes naturally to her since she once was a reseller, until joining Arrow four years ago. Her 24 years of experience in network engineering, project management, channel sales and strategic alliances has prepared her for her work in the Software Group.

“As business development manager, my goal is to do everything possible to assure our partners’ potential to win deals in their key markets and grow,” Hurlbut says. “If they don't grow, we don't grow.”

The business development managers in the Software Group champion growth by understanding the partners' businesses, building strategic business plans and then implementing key activities to meet the goals outlined in the plans. This may include providing targeted sales training, helping to develop sales and marketing materials, and offering advice on quotes and financing options.

“Our partners have different specialties, different resources and different customers,” she explains. “One of my projects right now is to help formalize relationships among resellers, to help them take advantage of each other’s strengths, so they can go to market together in search of sales opportunities.”

Hurlbut cited as an example an Arrow ECS partner in a regional market with skills in supporting network infrastructure, servers and storage, with a customer that wants to implement smart cards as part of an identity management project. “If the partner doesn’t have expertise in identity management, Arrow can help by finding a non-competing partner to work with the reseller to provide these services,” Hurlbut states.

“We don’t just introduce the partners to each other and walk away,” Hurlbut says. “Arrow is there with each successful introduction, through development of a solution, all the way through, to identifying opportunities and winning the sale.”

Learn more about the Arrow ECS Software Group.