The bid machine
 

The Bid Machine can help you to be more responsive and competitive in proposals. So make sure you use the Bid Machine for all your small and medium sized special bid opportunities.

 

The Bid Machine Proposition

Benefits for the reseller:

  • Aggressive, pre-approved discounts on leadership IBM technology
  • Approval from IBM in only 8 business hours
  • The full range of IBM Tape, Midrange disk storage, SAN, NAS, System x servers, server options and ServicePacs are eligible
  • Access to leading IBM EXA, BladeCenter and TotalStorage technologies
  • No IBM “red tape”, no fuss, no delays

 

IBM Channel Programs

IBM Channel Programs

Use Express Seller when…

  • You need immediate availability of product
  • You want the freedom to negotiate your own price – fast!
  • You want to maximise your IBM marketing funds
  • Leverage Bid Machine when you need options not in the Express Seller portfolio

Use Bid Machine when…

  • You need a special price approved – fast!
  • You have an opportunity up to €50K
  • You have an Express Seller opportunity above €5K
  • You want to be sure of the discount that will be approved
  • Your opportunity is in one country

Use Special Bid when…

  • You have a unique, complex configuration
  • Immediate delivery is not a requirement
  • You need configure-to-order services
  • You have a multi-country opportunity

 

How does the Bid Machine work?

Five easy steps to getting a fast, winning price on the best IBM technology:

1 - Every quarter you will receive a discount “grid” from IBM. This tells you the maximum discount that is “pre-approved” through the Bid Machine

2 - You can use this grid to negotiate a price with your reseller without ever contacting IBM, in the knowledge that (assuming the qualifying conditions are met) the bid will be approved

3 - When and only when the bid is won, send a Bid Machine Request to IBM using the on-line OPRA (Opportunity & Price Request Application) tool

4 - Assuming the qualifying conditions are met, the bid will be approved within 8 business hours

5 - The order must be placed within the same calendar quarter (plus 7 days) as the bid was requested in for Part Number products, or within 90 days of the request being approved for Machine Type Model products, otherwise the bid approval will no longer be valid

 

What is the Discount Grid?

For Part Number products, the Bid Machine pre-approves a fixed discount off channel-price, not a fixed price. For Machine Type Model Products, the Bid Machine pre-approves a fixed discount off list price. Discounts are for broad families of products – e.g. System x Servers, System x options, Tape, Storage options, ServicePacs – rather than individual products. The Grid is communicated to you so you can manage re-bids with Tier-2 Resellers until the winning price is known. If during the quarter the catalogue price of any product in the bid goes up or down, the approved discount percentage remains the same.

> Click here for the latest Discount Grids

 

Submit your Bid Machine requests using OPRA

OPRA (Opportunity & Price Request Application) is IBM’s new on-line tool for Business Partners to request special prices.

For a Bid Machine request there are 5 simple steps:

1 - Access OPRA via https://bpbt.projects.sercon.de

2 - Enter your PartnerWorld password and id

3 - Select Bid Machine

4 - Complete the Bid Machine Request Form on-line

5 - Click submit

If you require any more information or help please contact your Account Manager on 0870 602 0990.


Shortcuts

Please use the links below to go directly to the promotions that interest you:

- The Bid Machine Proposition
- IBM Channel Programs
- How does the Bid Machine work?
- What is the Discount Grid?
- Submit your Bid Machine requests using OPRA
IBM Discount Grid
Click the GO! button below to download the latest version of the IBM Discount Grid.
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