I just got back from Intel’s Channel Alliance Summit. The event is designed to gather companies from the vendor community to communicate (and perhaps collaborate) on subjects relating to the Channel. Of the topics presented, I found the sessions on “Eco-smart” and EPEAT most interesting. Environmental compliance is a big deal with the people who buy our products now and in the future, and it is encouraging to know that vendors are working on the Channel’s behalf.

The impact of the trend toward ‘green’ became serious when we first learned of EPEAT last year. These compliance criteria became boilerplate for a surprisingly large number of government and education organizations. When IT stimulus money was released, 22 government agencies were among the first to roll out RFPs for hundreds of millions of dollars of work. To the Channel’s dismay, every tender issued by these agencies required that the participant provide EPEAT-compliant equipment. The small businesses that were the intended beneficiaries of the stimulus plan were prohibited from competing by a standard we cannot meet. If there was a “bright side” of things at that time, it was seeing the vendors share our surprise and dismay at the discovery.

Some of the vendors (most notably Intel) directed resources to assist the Channel with programs and compliance consultants. Others have taken a more creative approach. At the Alliance Summit last week, we heard Paul Parkinson of In-Win (the chassis and power supply vendor) describe their company’s effort to support the Channel. His team proceeded with a strategy built around the idea that EPEAT is not about a particular product (although that is how it’s managed); it’s about a process. So Paul and his crew organized the documentation, processes, and process management required to meet EPEAT’s compliance specification. This very creative (and quite effective) approach took many man-hours to execute, but the results seem spectacular to Channel guys. By the end of the year, a Channel company should be able to purchase a chassis and power supply from In-Win and assemble an EPEAT-compliant machine. The chassis and power supply will come with “manuals”; Energy Star and EPEAT compliance guides that will list the certified parts (and their vendors) that a Channel company can use to assemble their machine. With EPEAT compliant desktops and laptops, we can compete for stimulus dollars in government and education infrastructure opportunities. We can compete for business where environmental compliance is a requirement.

There is still work to be done. We need other members of the vendor community to step forward and join Paul Parkinson at In-Win. His team has done most of the heavy lifting; other vendors need to communicate with him and certify their technology as part of In-Win’s compliance stack. More vendors – more variety; more technology for the Channel to use to build custom solutions for customers. I was at the Channel Alliance Summit last week and I heard Paul’s presentation to his peers in the vendor community. There was interest and enthusiasm, and I hope that translates into action. It won’t hurt if the system builders reading this blog will (the next time they’re on the phone with them) ask your vendors what they are doing to help you achieve EPEAT compliance.

The real message lies more in the method than in the result. The Channel identified the problem during an event hosted by a vendor. A vendor takes up the cause and brings a solution to the Channel. All this in less than a year…

..imagine our achievements when we’re properly organized.

Tags: EPEAT, EPEAT compliance, IT Channel, system builder

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