Time for the channel to be responsible

CSR ­ – let’s be honest, when it appears in CRN, it conjures up connotations of a crime-fighting reseller squad.

But Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) involves more thought than Horatio puts into his felony-busting antics in CSI Miami and more opinion than Grissom gives in Vegas.

CSR is the corporate world’s way of feeling less guilty. It is about firms helping out their people, society and the environment ­ not because they legally have to, but because they are taking responsibility for their actions by making the world a better place.

But the very term itself is open to ambiguity and in reality most small companies have little idea what it is, how to approach it or even whether or not they should adopt a CSR policy.

While the giants out there ­ Microsoft, Cisco, IBM et al ­ all have their CSR strategies sewn up ­ helping out charities, offering refurbished IT gear to the developing world and providing educational contributions ­ it’s easy for many in the channel to become lost and overwhelmed by where to start with CSR. And so, in the end, they do nothing.

The best way is to pick something; a charity, school or appeal that you believe in; that has some relevance to your business, be it by locality or sector. For all channel players there is one obvious choice of where to help.

Channel veteran Ian French, former president of Bell Micro Europe, launched GapAid in July after his daughter was killed in Peru just two weeks into her gap year trip. GapAid aims to offer help to ‘gapers’ heading to dangerous countries, a feat more and more young people are attempting to do ­ how long before your son or daughter decides to go?

Doing nothing is not an option in this instance; it is time for the channel to show its generous side and get serious with CSR.

For more information, go to www.gapaid.org.

Sara Driscoll is editor of CRN. Email her at sara .driscoll@incisivemedia.com