NEWS
 |
Okay,
some thrived while others survived in 2003. But what
will happen in 2004? It's all About Attitude!
By Keith Newman, Editor, ChannelMedia |
Please find me some new customers, I'm sick of the one's
I got. They're all dogs. And they all have fleas! Now if
this is the usual catharsis you hear a salesperson utter
once in a blue moon then fine, let it pass. However, if
you hear this as a semi-consistent rant from yourself, your
sales staff or a single sales professional, there are issues.
Solving this sales quagmire can start with a predictable
and repeatable process. I would venture a guess that the
current process is the ever popular "spray and pray" method
of qualifying leads. It's okay to admit it, we all fall
into this bucket now and then. To upgrade your sales pipeline
it would be a good idea to define your lead generation and
qualification process? Here are a few questions that we
know intuitively but always bears review, and what better
time than the New Year:
- Who
are our best customers?
- Who
do we want to sell to?
- Are
we reaching them correctly?
- Is
our message clear?
- Does
it have impact?
If you said "Yes" to the above Big Five questions you are
either the #1 selling machine in the your marketplace or you
are delusional and in need of counseling. Maybe it's a bit
of both, in which case, I would suggest you review the aforementioned
questions again. Let me know if you have some additional answers,
or questions, that our audience of channel decision-makers
needs to be constantly evaluating.
Quick Note: November's CIO Magazine's Poll of top CIO's showed
a plan to increase tech spending +4.2% over the next 12 months,
a decline from the 6.0% level projected in October. "The overall
IT spending outlook remains unclear but we are encouraged
that the outlook by large corporate CIOs has improved month
to month," says George Elling, Managing Director, Enterprise
and PC Hardware Research for Deutsche Bank Securities. My
take on this is that the active, leading-edge vendors and
integrators are going to win business and those people waiting
for the phone to ring with large contract renewals are going
to be disappointed. "While budget projections remain subdued
for the next 12 months, it is possible that CIOs are getting
more bang for their IT bucks given soaring productivity,"
Dr. Ed Yardeni, Chief Investment Strategist for Prudential
Equity Group.
Share your comments with ChannelMedia with an email to kanewman@sbcglobal.net.
Subject line: ChannelMedia Feedback.
Q&A with Macromedia's Michael
K. Menegay, Senior VP of Worldwide Channels
By ChannelMedia Staff
Q: What is Macromedia Breeze?
A: Breeze is the Macromedia software platform for rapid
learning and training that enables you to simplify and accelerate
online meetings, presentations, and training with one revolutionary
integrated solution. Breeze has three modules: Breeze Presentation,
Breeze Training, and Breeze Live.
Breeze Presentation allows you to personalize Microsoft PowerPoint
presentations with your own narration and easily deliver them
on demand through any standard web browser in Macromedia Flash
format. Content experts and instructional designers can now
develop and publish materials with ease by creating new or
pre-existing PowerPoint presentations that integrate digital
video, Flash simulations, and other types of media and provide
a rich experience for the viewer.
Breeze Training allows you to build a complete online training
system with PowerPoint presentations that includes surveys,
tracking, analysis, course administration/management, and
content management. Now you can schedule courses, invite and
register participants, and track attendee statistics. Test
the effectiveness of your courses by building quizzes and
surveys into your PowerPoint presentations. Generate detailed
reports on courses, students, and test results and set up
automated certification criteria. Manage users, set permissions,
and run reports to log the number of viewers and gauge the
effectiveness of your Breeze presentations and courses.
Breeze Live provides an unequaled experience in online meetings,
allowing you to meet instantly with colleagues anywhere at
any time. Imagine online meetings that actually work! Because
Breeze Live works with Macromedia Flash, setup is quick and
intuitive. No software downloads or plug-ins are required.
Now you can bring PowerPoint slides, digital video, Flash
simulations, and other types of media into your live meetings.
Chat with a few people or broadcast to many. Web cast applications
on your PC through screen sharing. Schedule meetings in advance,
preload content before meetings, and use preset or custom
meeting room layouts. You can even save rooms for recurring
meetings and record it all easily for future viewings.
Macromedia offers Breeze hosted packages, or you can host
it on your own company's servers.
Question #2
Q: How has the use of Breeze technology impacted your channel
organization at Macromedia?
A: Breeze has helped our smaller account management,
programs, marketing, operations, and technical teams to scale,
covering more partners and partner types across larger territories.
With Breeze we are communicating more efficiently and executing
our training and enablement activities more often and with
much greater consistency. Overall we are sharing information
with partners and their teams far more cost-effectively than
ever before. Our savings on travel expenses alone in one quarter
was enough to pay for the software. Breeze is keeping us on
time and on budget.
Question #3
Q: In what phases of the channel partner lifecycle is Breeze
technology and its individual modules most helpful?
Recruiting: Breeze helps us make every meeting a face-to-face
one. Connecting with every prospect in a Breeze Live meeting
has helped increase our channel partner recruitment and retention
rate. Meetings are not only more effective and productive
but they happen more often and with limited costs. We are
building strong channel loyalty through frequent and meaningful
interactions with channel partners through Breeze.
Enablement and Training: Breeze Presentation and Breeze
Live make rapid learning possible and highly effective. Together
they help us ensure competency throughout the channel. Breeze
helps channel partners cut through the clutter, delivering
the latest information wherever and whenever it's needed.
We deliver timely and relevant information on process and
product from Macromedia SMEs in an organized fashion. All
content can be recorded and saved in a repository, to be reviewed
later on demand or for reference purposes. By making effective
use of the Internet, Breeze keeps channel partners informed
and trained with less cost, less travel, and less time away
from their desk and territory. It is quickly becoming our
partners' preferred way of learning and exchanging information
with us as a vendor.
Marketing: Breeze Presentation, Breeze Training, and
Breeze Live increase the effectiveness and tracking of marketing
programs. Breeze gets our message out quickly to a worldwide
channel partner and customer audience in one-to-many events
by using the web to reduce logistics costs. Breeze reduces
event management staffing and allows us to sponsor more events
more often. Offering recorded events from our website helps
capture new partners and customer prospects who could not
otherwise attend an event.
Sales: Breeze impacts revenue today! We spend less
time traveling and more time meeting with more prospects.
Breeze Presentation and Breeze Live turn sales calls into
interactive online demonstrations. In minutes we can bring
remote key decision-makers together. By recording meetings
for those who are not in attendance, we can help shorten long,
complex sales cycles.
Feedback: Breeze gives Macromedia insight into who
is understanding our message and who is not. Understanding
the effectiveness of process and programs is critical to any
channel organization. With Breeze Presentation and Breeze
Training we can deploy content to channel partners, register
participants, and track attendee statistics and competency
level with great detail. We can also survey quickly on specific
topics, processes, and programs to understand perceptions
and make necessary adjustments quickly. We have found over
time that channel partners are loyal to vendors who listen
and respond. There is a lot of competition out there for a
limited amount of mind share. In the channel, change is inevitable
and making the right change at the right time is critical.
Breeze has put us far ahead of the game and will keep us there.
Question #4
Q: How long does it take to learn Breeze technology
and integrate it efficiently and effectively into your daily
process in the channel?
A: Our internal channel team was installed, up and
running, and being trained within one hour. Within one week
we had a strong working knowledge of all three Breeze modules
and had begun integrating them into our daily process. We
found Breeze to be very approachable and intuitive. Not only
was it easy for us to learn, but it was simple to use. Our
channel partners enjoy Breeze and the flexibility it provides
them to receive information from Macromedia. We see the use
of Breeze to communicate, educate, train, and enable our channel
partners as a big competitive advantage over other vendors
competing for mind share.
Question #5
Q: How can I learn more about the Macromedia Breeze
product platform?
A: Just click here:
Macromedia Breeze for Channel Management
http://www.macromedia.com/software/breeze/solutions/sales/channel_readiness/
Macromedia Breeze product home page
http://www.macromedia.com/software/breeze/
Macromedia Breeze FAQ
http://www.macromedia.com/software/breeze/productinfo/faq/
or contact Macromedia directly at 888-649-2990 or sales@macromedia.com.
2003
- A LOOK AT TRENDS IN THE RESELLER CHANNEL
By Jill Kerr |
Sponsored
by:
|
Sometimes the best research is completely unscientific. For
this article my research methodology was what I call "shut
up and listen." When I want to find out what's really going
on in the SMB channel, I get in front of some of the resellers
in my network and ask the question. "How's business?" "What's
going on out there?" "What trends are you seeing?" Or in this
case I asked them, "How was 2003?" And while the answers may
not be scientific either, they provide a candid look at what's
happening with the SMB resellers.
SMB SPENDING
In general, I hear that things are improving out there. Small
business is starting to spend again. Of course this could
be due to one of two reasons - either the economy is indeed
improving or these companies can not wait any longer to update
their infrastructure. Most resellers I talked to seem to think
we're finally seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. They
remain cautiously optimistic. It will most likely take another
quarter or two to know for sure.
THE ATTENTION SMB RESELLERS DESERVE
SMB resellers seem somewhat divided on the topic of whether
they are getting the distributor and vendor support they deserve.
MJ Shoer, President of Jenaly Technologies, Portsmouth, NH
says, "The smaller companies like Jenaly are finally getting
the attention of the players out there. More vendors are finally
making it easier for us to do business in a more open manner.
In other words they are not demanding unrealistic fees from
us just to get involved, and they are not enforcing quotas
like they used to. (We) smaller companies finally have access
to support resources that allow us to do our job properly
without the typical red tape." But then Bob Lamb, President,
ESI Technologies, Athens, TN reports a different experiences
as an SMB reseller. "There's lots of talk about the SMB market
but major vendors don't have a plan worked out to attack that
market, and there's still no respect for the small reseller/VAR
from the vendor community." Hmmm...
SERVICE, SERVICE, SERVICE
Resellers are talking about service. "How do I turn my operation
into a service business?" "How do I find service opportunities
around the country?" "How can I set up satellite offices in
remote cities that I can run remotely with off-site technicians?"
Going forward, service will be the ticket for resellers. Everyone
believes that the SMB resellers who learn how to optimize
the service opportunity will be the survivors. SMB resellers
are tired of trying to compete with Dell and the superstores.
A service-based model will allow them to truly differentiate
themselves and move into a more profitable space.
VERTICALIZATION
SMB resellers know that they need to focus their business
and many they realize they aren't. "I pretty much go after
anything and everything that pays, " says one. "In short,
I lack focus...focus on a specialty, focus on a vertical market
and focus on where I want the business to go in the future."
Resellers who come to this realization are beginning to look
at ways to target their business on lucrative vertical markets.
I heard a lot about smart homes. Alan Baldwin, President of
Fine Images, Louisville, KY attended CompTIA's Breakaway conference
and also the Electronic Home Expo in Long Beach in November.
"I came away wowed, " he says. "It was information overload
but this will be a good thing to add to our services." He's
already working on a model/demo home to show future customers.
"Now is the time to get into the home automation field. It
is a perfect fit for network installers and systems builders."
Healthcare is another vertical that has resellers excited.
Whenever the government creates regulations (HIPAA), there's
money to be made. Savvy resellers are targeting medical practices
and focusing their businesses on this potentially lucrative
niche. Education will be key in this arena, however. Resellers
who want to get into this market will need to be committed
to learning more about healthcare regulations and the specific
technologies that support healthcare organizations. Ingram
Micro has stepped up to guide their customers. The distributor
has a well-established healthcare initiative that is heavy
on education and features a dedicated HIPAA support desk.
DISTRIBUTOR BUZZ
And while this may sound like an endorsement, when resellers
say something positive about a distributor, I think it bears
repeating. Without prompting, resellers are talking about
D&H. The distributor, they say, is aggressive in its conviction
to attract new reseller partners. They've expanded their product
line greatly and they're doing what it takes to win the business.
D&H President Gary Brothers was a huge hit with one of the
very small resellers he met at CompTIA's Breakaway conference
this summer when he actually took the time to visit with that
reseller on a subsequent trip to St. Louis. I report what
I hear.
JUST WHEN YOU THOUGHT...
Of course to an SMB reseller what happened in 2003 could have
everything to do with being dealt a bad hand and have absolutely
nothing to do with their business savvy or the climate of
the industry. One reseller shared with me that when his service
manager had a nervous breakdown this year, he had to take
over her responsibilities, sold little to no new business
and had to start the long climb all over again to get back
to where his business was. We sometimes forget that the resellers
who sell to small business are just small businesses themselves!
GO, GO IS GONE
The realization has sunk in by now that the "go, go" days
of this business have "gone, gone." The SMB resellers who
have survived are in it for the long haul. Whether it was
strategy or luck that brought them to where they are now could
be debated but the facts are they are still standing and they
are the backbone of the technology industry. I see SMB resellers
hunkering a little but positioning a lot. They're already
looking for next year's opportunity.
Jill Kerr consults with technology organizations that
want to enhance their relationships with resellers. She may
be reached at jill@kerrandcompany.com
703-927-8204
More Industry Trends
Of the more than 1,000 survey participants, 95 percent of
Microsoft's Certified Business Partners expect revenue growth
in the next 12 months, according to a Microsoft-commissioned
study released today by SoftwareMinds. The 33-page report
focusing on business outlook and operational best-practices-the
most comprehensive of its kind ever conducted with Microsoft's
Certified Partner Council-indicates that:
- Ninety-five
percent of the more than 1,000 respondents expect revenue
growth over the next 12 months, though 43 percent reported
flat or declining revenues for the 12 months ended June
30, 2003, and 25 percent said they had been unprofitable
during this period.
- More
than one quarter of the respondents expect revenues to
grow in excess of 25 percent in the next 12 months, and
nearly half (48 percent) expect revenue growth of 5-25
percent in the same period.
- The
overall economic climate was blamed by 60 percent of the
respondents as the major contributing factor to underperformance
during the prior 12 months. Other important contributing
factors were changes in customer/prospect budgets, the
global economic climate, competition and retention of
sales personnel.
More than half of the respondents reported that adding new
products or services had increased revenues, and was the most
important contributing factor.
- Of
the 11 industry segments named in the survey, respondents
rated the financial services and insurance sectors as
the most significant sources of ongoing and new revenues
for Microsoft resellers.
- Not
surprisingly, more than half of the respondents (60 percent)
expect increasing revenues from products and services
that address IT security needs.
The typical respondent was a nine-year-old firm with less
than $5 million in annual revenues and with more than half
of its revenues coming from the sale of IT consulting services.
The full study covers business performance and outlook,
consultant and trainer utilization, sales organization and
compensation, marketing, and recruiting and retention. "It's
been a tough economy for many of our partners, and it's
good to see the outlook for the coming year is more positive,"
says Christina Hart, Microsoft's manager of U.S. Certified
Partners program. "We're intent on helping our partners
develop successful businesses, which, of course, will contribute
to the fundamental health of the entire IT industry. This
study on the best practices and outlook of Microsoft-certified
services companies and resellers is one important way we
provide value to our partners in their quest for improved
business development." "The results of this study clearly
indicate that future business growth for Microsoft business
partners is quite favorable," said Kirsten Chapman, SoftwareMinds'
marketing vice president. "And the high level of participation
suggests these partners are concerned about improving business
operations through a better understanding from peers of
how to take advantage of expected industry growth." SoftwareMinds
is an independent business operations research and publishing
venture serving the information technology industry.
GWI Software, the oldest continually operating
provider of IT helpdesk solutions, announced that they received
Microsoft's Gold Partner Certification for Software Products.
The Microsoft Gold Certified Partner Program brings market
recognition to companies providing consistent, high-quality
products built on the Microsoft platform. To date, GWI Software
is the only provider in its market to receive such certification.
"Only companies that have demonstrated the highest levels
of customer service, proven their experience and attained
advanced certification receive the designation of Microsoft
Gold Certified Partners," says Allison Watson, vice president
of the Worldwide Partner Sales and Marketing Group at Microsoft
Corp. "Today, Microsoft recognizes GWI for its skills and
expertise in providing customer satisfaction with Microsoft
products and technology."
Sponsored
by:
Q&A w/FSLogic President
Jared Blaser
By ChannelMedia Staff
Give us an update on FSLogic's business?
FSLogic had a successful product launch with FSLogic Protect
in October. We have received two industry award nominations:
VARVision 2003 Best of Show, Software, and, PC Magazine 2003
Technical Excellence: System Software. These nominations are
helping to draw worldwide recognition for FSLogic. We are
seeing increased interest in our products with potential resellers
and end-users.
How does 2004 look to be shaping up?
Now, with the foundation of market visibility in conjunction
with our growing reseller base we expect 2004 for to be a
very good year. The educational market buying cycle will kick
in during Q1/Q2 and presents an excellent opportunity for
FSLogic to increase its market position. We have initiated
some international activities in Q4 and we expect to see positive
and tangible results from overseas markets increasing throughout
the year.
How are you differentiating yourself in the market?
By developing superior products with unique capabilities for
the user not available from other products such as providing
a completely portable user "personality", working with resellers
instead of going direct, and establishing strong relationships
with possible bundling partners, FSLogic expects to stand
out as the preferred vendor for open access PC environments.
Any channel success stories that you can share?
FSLogic has several key relationships in the works, but we
are not quite ready for public release those names at this
point. We are in the process of building the channel, and
those that are onboard already are working on their offerings.
RESEARCH
Gartner Research
The Lure of Selling IT Services Via Other IT Solution
Providers
Michael Haines, Principal Analyst, IT Services Business Strategies
Group
IT vendors and solutions providers continually struggle with
the challenge of optimally capturing addressable market opportunity.
In addition, a direct sales strategy is often not viable for
the vast SMB market, thus partnerships with other providers
need to be leveraged for market reach. Recent Gartner research
indicates that IT services companies are starting to succumb
to the lure of selling their services via (to, through, with,
and for) other IT services firms. Several catalysts are contributing
to this activity:
The changing dynamics of customer demand. Businesses are seeking
IT solutions that address critical requirements that will
help them gain competitive position and realize operational
improvements. Customers are less inclined to deal with a large
number of IT solution providers on a regular basis, driving
providers to work together to deliver the required customer
solutions. IT solution providers are seeking methods to increase
penetration into new markets, particularly the SMB market.
Providers realize that a direct sales strategy that targets
unfamiliar or diverse new markets can be ineffective. Therefore,
they are looking to leverage other IT solutions companies
that already have a presence in selected target markets for
this growth.
Many IT solution providers cannot provide the entire solution
with their offerings alone and must combine offering with
other service providers to deliver comprehensive solutions.
As buyers focus higher up the value chain for IT services
solutions, business processes and applications, IT solutions
providers that do not play in the upper level of the value
chain must partner with those that do to reach this segment
of the market. The final catalyst is all about economics.
During the recent period of extended economic stagnation,
IT solutions providers sought to expand sales reach to identify
all of the potential addressable market opportunities.
Recent Gartner research conducted with leading IT solutions
companies to determine their strategies, initiatives, and
plans related to the selling of IT services offerings via
other IT solution providers revealed a number of interesting
findings and trends. Eighty percent of IT services companies
are selling their services offerings either to, through or
with other IT services companies. By far, the primary reason
cited for these efforts is to increase revenue. Other IT services
providers are expected to be a significant and important buying
center for IT services. Nearly 26 percent of IT services are
expected to be sold via other IT services providers this year,
increasing to 29 percent next year. Gartner Dataquest predicts
that this buying segment will account for 40 percent of IT
services sales by 2006.
Operational and support services offerings continue to be
the most frequently sold via other service providers, but
professional services offerings have gained in focus and frequency
since similar research was conducted in 2001.
The buyers within other IT services companies tend to be business
unit managers and practice managers, not CIOs and other managers
in the IT department. Dedicated sales and marketing resources
and marketing budgets continue to lag the percentage of services
revenue generated via other IT services providers.
Only slightly more than half of IT services providers are
conducting co-marketing efforts. With those that are, the
co-marketing programs that are proving to be most effective
are traditional programs such as co-operative selling, events
and success stories. Technology-based co-marketing programs,
such as webcasts and e-marketing, have delivered unsatisfactory
results.
What should you do next?
This market shift should motivate IT services and solutions
providers to consider the following actions as part of a refreshed
strategy:
IT services companies should continue sell-through efforts
and consider increases to sell-to and sell-with efforts to
take advantage of the expected rebound in the demand for IT
services.
IT services companies should structure services offerings
and unique value propositions to take maximum advantage of
the growing buyer segment of other IT services companies.
IT services companies that sell professional services offerings
should evaluate their offerings to determine if any can be
packaged or positioned for easier and broader sale via other
IT services companies.
IT services providers must allocate sales and marketing resources
for these initiatives and allocate adequate marketing budgets
to ensure that the strategy and objectives can be achieved.
Technology-based co-marketing programs should be used for
lead generation efforts and in support of traditional co-marketing
elements.
Supporting Graphics
Bigger is Better: 17-inch Notebooks
Take Retail By Storm
By Matt Sargent, Director of Research, PC Group
I'm not a truck guy. I just don't get it. I have a warped
belief that my four door sedan has all the room I need to
make it through my daily life. But, living in Southern California,
it is impossible to deny the popularity of SUVs. Everyone,
from construction workers to soccer moms, swears by the SUV
-- and over the last few years the car industry has jumped
to fill this highly profitable niche. Everyone from Ford to
Porsche now offers an SUV with a huge degree of variation
within the segment. The term SUV now applies to vehicles ranging
from the high end Cadillac Escalade aimed at 60-something
retirees and celebrity athletes to the X-generation inspired
Nissan Xterra.
While I don't get the SUV phenomenon, I do grasp a somewhat
similar movement within the PC market place. While I am most
certainly not a truck guy (the auto mechanic who took me to
the cleaners for my last "scheduled" check up will testify
to my lack of overall automotive knowledge), I am a tech guy,
and the one cool tech toy I have an insatiable appetite for
this holiday season is the 17-inch notebook. When I first
heard that Apple was offering a notebook with a 17-inch display
I was suspect. I had worked with 16" notebooks and considered
the display to be too tall for easy usage. I am not exactly
sure what it was about the height of a 16" display that bothered
me, but it simply looked disproportionately tall. Perhaps
it was a feeling that this was a disaster waiting to happen
- envisioning the system tipping over under the weight of
its own display. It just didn't seem right. A 17-inch display
I reasoned would be even worse. Apple, however, took a new
twist on large displays by increasing the width, and not the
height of the display, the result being a "wide screen" display
not much taller than a 14" notebook. I was immediately struck
by how inviting the form factor was and how positively it
would resonate within the home market. The biggest problem
with the Apple system was price. At $3,299, the original 17-inch
Apple PowerBook would not make it beyond the small, but fiercely
loyal Apple installed base. While the PowerBook certainly
scored well among this group, broad market acceptance was
not going to happen at $3,000.
Acceptance within the market came with Toshiba's version of
the 17-inch form factor. The Toshiba Satellite P25-Series
was born, and with it a whole new market was created. No longer
did all notebooks within retail look identical with non-descript
15-inch displays. The P25 was the first SUV of the notebook
market, and similar to the acceptance of the SUV, the P25
found immediate success. Not wanting to miss out on this new
market, HP followed Toshiba with the Pavilion zd7000-series.
Like the Satellite P25, the Pavilion zd7000 did extremely
well in retail becoming one of the top selling notebooks for
HP within a few short weeks of its release. Additionally,
HP was able to grab interest for the 17-inch form factor in
the mid-tier market with a $1,699 zd7000 that performed very
well. In just a few months, the Toshiba Satellite P25 and
the HP Pavilion zd7000 drove the 17-inch notebook market from
virtually no retail unit sales to almost ten percent of sales.
The HP Pavilion zd7020US currently ranks in the top ten models
currently sold in retail.
Interestingly, the P25 is everything that a notebook shouldn't
be, according to the stereotype of portable PCs. It is VERY
heavy weighing in at nearly ten pounds. It is bulky and thick.
If "thin and light" are the watch words for notebook design,
why has the P25 done so well? The reason is because the definition
of the notebook PC is changing now that the consumer market
has become more interested in the segment. Weight isn't important
if you are simply moving from one room to another and never
plan on taking the system beyond the four walls of your home.
Another aspect not necessarily important to the home user
is battery life. Who cares if a notebook only gets one and
a half hours of battery life if I am within ten feet of a
power source at all times?
These differing needs have created a new opportunity for notebook
manufacturers, much like car owner's preferences created the
SUV. Does a home computer user necessarily "need" a 17-inch
notebook? Definitely not -- standard 15-inch or even older
14-inch systems will get the job done. However, a 17-inch
widescreen provides a level of differentiation for users looking
for more than the standard "vanilla" PC. This differentiation
has been a missing component of the PC industry for some time,
and like the rush car manufacturers made to the SUV, ARS expects
that the computer industry will rush to supply the need created
by the 17" form factor. Now if only my SUV friends wouldn't
laugh at my car.
Top-Selling
Software
Week of December 7 - December 13, 2003 |
| All
Categories |
| 1 |
Norton
Antivirus 2004 |
Symantec |
$41 |
| 2 |
TurboTax
2003 Deluxe |
Intuit |
$39 |
| 3 |
The
Sims: Makin' Magic Expansion Pack |
Electronic
Arts |
$32 |
| 4 |
Call
Of Duty |
Activision |
$45 |
| 5 |
MS
Zoo Tycoon: Complete Collection |
Microsoft |
$27 |
| 6 |
Finding
Nemo: Nemo's Underwater World Of Fun |
THQ
Inc |
$18 |
| 7 |
Norton
Internet Security 2004 |
Symantec |
$67 |
| 8 |
The
Sims Double Deluxe |
Electronic
Arts |
$41 |
| 9 |
MS
Windows XP Home Ed Upgr |
Microsoft |
$99 |
| 10 |
Backyard
Football 2004 |
Atari |
$16 |
| |
| Business |
| 1 |
MS
Office 2003 Student/Teacher Ed |
Microsoft |
$148 |
| 2 |
QuickBooks
2004 Pro |
Intuit |
$278 |
| 3 |
MS
Office XP Student & Teacher Ed Acad |
Microsoft |
$130 |
| 4 |
QuickBooks
2004 |
Intuit |
$197 |
| 5 |
Norton
AntiSpam 2004 |
Symantec |
$40 |
| 6 |
My
Bookkeeper |
Elibrium |
$25 |
| 7 |
Pop-up
Stopper Companion 3.0 |
Panicware |
$30 |
| 8 |
MS
Office 2003 Pro Upgr |
Microsoft |
$323 |
| 9 |
MS
Office X Student/Teacher Ed |
Microsoft |
$131 |
| 10 |
MS
Office 2003 |
Microsoft |
$398 |
| |
| List
is based on units sold by twenty-three channel partners.
For more information, please contact The NPD Group at
(703) 376-6226. |
COMMUNITY
Channel Digest
By ChannelMedia Staff
SunGard Data Systems Inc. resumed its buying
spree on Wednesday, announcing a deal to purchase Systems
& Computer Technology Corporation for about $584 million
in cash. Under terms of the deal, SunGard will pay $16.50
per share for SCT, a Malvern, Pa., developer of education
software. IKON Office Solutions announced
an agreement to sell certain assets and liabilities of its
U.S. and Canadian leasing business to a unit of GE Commercial
Finance for $1.5 billion. Extreme Networks
said it expects a second quarter loss of 6-2 cents a share,
excluding the impact of amortization of warrants granted to
Avaya. The figure is below the current Thomson First Call
consensus of earnings of 2 cents a share. Revenue is pegged
at $80-85 million, lower than the $87.4 million earned in
the first quarter, mainly due to product constraints. Shares
dropped 14.5 percent to $7 on Instinet. French IT services
group Cap Gemini warned it expects fourth
quarter revenue below expectations as clients delay signing
contracts. Shares dropped as much as 12.3 percent in Paris.
Check Point Software said it plans to acquire
Zone Labs, an Internet security software provider, for $205
million in cash and stock. Zone Labs has raised $45.5 million
in venture capital to date from investors including BA Venture
Partners, Intel Capital, JK&B Capital, Oxford Bioscience
Partners, Pacific Venture Group, and Visa International. Business
Objects, a business software maker, said on Thursday
that it had closed its $1.2 billion acquisition of rival Crystal
Decisions. The takeover cleared its final hurdle when Business
Objects' shareholders approved the acquisition at a Thursday
meeting in Paris. Although Business Objects is based in France,
the company also maintains a large U.S. hub in San Jose.
Stratus Technologies announced the launch of a new ftServer(R)
Partner Program, a comprehensive, multi-category program providing
a low-risk, high-margin route to the rapidly expanding business-
and mission-critical availability markets. Strategic channel
partners will come from a select group of value-added resellers,
independent software vendors, system integrators, generic
resellers and geographic distributors who share Stratus' commitment
to provide end users with the highest levels of availability
for Microsoft(R) Windows(R)-based solutions. "Because our
primary ftServer sales model is through partners, Stratus
aggressively recruits and rewards solution providers and resellers
who meet our exacting quality standards and can contribute
to our global marketing strategies in a substantive manner,"
said Tony Amico, manager of Channels Marketing at Stratus.
"If a solution provider views uptime reliability as a high-value
feature of its applications suite, then it can profit from
offering our affordable, industry-standard ftServer line and
the unique service offerings that complement it." The ftServer
Partner Program defines and rewards three categories of participation
based on levels of revenue commitment and sales success. All
newly signed partners receive CD-based sales tools and marketing
collateral; access to a secure partner Web site with tools
for system configuration, order entry, marketing information
and materials updates; and a Stratus Web-based Solutions Guide
that promotes the partner and its ftServer-supported solutions.
HOT PRODUCTS
Covast, provider of the recommended electronic data interchange
(EDI) solution for Microsoft BizTalk Server, announced today
that in Q3 the company increased revenues over a phenomenal
Q2 of this year by yet another 17% and topped third quarter
2002 revenues by 183%. Contributing significantly to the surge
in revenues was the fact that the company brought on over
twenty new customer accounts worldwide. SonicWALL
announced that its SOHO TZW secure wireless gateway has won
PC Magazine's 2003 Best of COMDEX award in the wireless infrastructure
category. Among the nearly 500 award entries, SonicWALL's
SOHO TZW was selected as the wireless product best poised
to positively affect the future of IT. iCode
was recently named as a finalist in the 19th Annual Codie
Awards. Everest is one of just five products to make it to
the finalist level within the Best Business Software Product
or Service category. Everest Advanced Edition 1.0 was named
a 2003 finalist for the Best E-Commerce Solution, making this
Everest's second year to have received this highly esteemed
recognition. "In light of the intense competition this year,
to be named a Codie Awards finalist is a tremendous honor
and an important achievement. SIIA is proud to recognize these
companies as true leaders in their fields." says Ken Wasch,
SIIA President. "To be recognized by such a renowned body
is a great honor for us at iCode," said Bijal Mehta, iCode's
president and CEO. "Although we have received a number of
awards over the year, we are extremely honored with the recognition
received from The Software & Information Industry Association.
This is a reaffirmation of our commitment to our customers."
In addition to receiving two Codie Award Finalist achievements,
iCode's Everest Advanced Edition was named as the Microsoft
Small Business Solution of the Year in 2001 and received a
Five Star Rating from CPA Software News in 2002. Sony
Electronics is shipping its first generation of Professional
Disc for DATA optical storage drives, automated devices and
media to OEMs and system integrators. Based on blue laser
technology, the new Professional Disc for DATA media stores
up to 23 GB of native capacity per rewritable or write-once,
read-many (WORM) disc, while the new drive sustains a maximum
native transfer rate of 11 MB/sec, delivering an advanced
optical storage and archiving solution for professional data-intensive
applications. For high capacity and high performance disc
handling, the new automated Sony Autochanger offers up to
1.6TB of native capacity in a compact 19-inch rack-mount design
that may be configured with one, two or four drives for the
desired balance between storage capacity and speed. "The new
Professional Disc for DATA devices are positioned as a natural
successor for users who have outgrown the 9.1 GB capacity
per magneto-optical (MO) disc offered in the market today,
and are looking to use removable storage to address the intensifying
data retention and storage requirements driven by growing
government regulatory mandates," said Rick Thong, manager
of OEM optical storage solutions marketing for Sony Electronics'
Component Solutions Business Division. Agfa Corporation
and Dimension Data Holdings announced a reseller
agreement that will make Dimension Data's technology services
solutions available through the Agfa HealthCare sales organization
in the United States. This agreement is designed to give healthcare
providers greater choice when seeking an integrated image
and information management solution. The agreement will enable
Agfa to offer a broader range of client strategy development
services, in addition to the full range of networking, storage,
integration, and imaging solutions that Agfa already offers
its Picture Archiving and Communication System users, administrators
and organizations. Agfa and Dimension Data will immediately
focus on the growth of shared professional services dedicated
to Agfa's PACS and the healthcare provider market as a whole.
Initial offerings include the HIPAA Security Assessment; PACS-related
security, network, and storage services; and associated hardware
requirements. "Every customer has unique needs that call for
unique solutions," said Michael Green, global head of Downstream
Marketing, Agfa HealthCare. "Agfa is committed to aligning
with technology leaders like Dimension Data to provide our
customers the greatest solution flexibility available, in
the most economical and straight forward way possible." Plumtree
Software announced the release of a new add-on to
its Enterprise Web Development Kit for creating interactive
portlets using Microsoft .NET Web Controls. Part of Microsoft's
.NET Framework, .NET Web Controls are simple, visual drag-and-drop
elements that developers can use to create Web applications.
Hundreds of .NET Web Controls created by Microsoft and the
.NET development community can now be used without any coding
to create portlets within the Plumtree Enterprise Web Suite.
As a result, organizations can build rich, interactive applications
from existing .NET and Java components at low cost. With legislators,
regulators, and companies intensifying the debate over what
consumer data can be shared or sold as a result of the "Do
Not Call List," BearingPoint., one of the
world's largest business consulting and systems integration
firms, can help Financial Services companies understand and
comply with new federal regulations with the QuickScan(SM)
customer relationship management (CRM) assessment tool. "Even
with the obvious benefits to consumers from the 'Do-Not-Call'
list legislation, companies still need to retain the ability
to reach-out to their customers," said Mindy S. Propper, a
vice president with BearingPoint. "Financial institutions
need to balance this need with customers' own 'opt- out' preferences.
Companies can still increase the range of their allowable
outreach to existing customers through the use of multi-channel
marketing programs as long as they align those efforts with
customers' preferences." Sophos revealed
the top ten viruses and hoaxes causing problems for businesses
around the world. The report, which examines virus and hoax
reports in the month of November 2003, shows that a new email-aware
worm stormed to the top of the charts, while an existing hoax
had a new burst of life. The top ten viruses in November 2003
were as follows: 1. W32/Sober-A (Sober worm) 32.6% New entry
2= W32/Mimail-C (Mimail variant) 9.5% 2= W32/Mimail-F (Mimail
variant) 9.5% 4. W32/Dumaru-A (Dumaru virus) 8.0% 5. W32/Mimail-A
(Mimail worm) 5.1% 6. W32/Gibe-F (Gibe variant) 4.5% 7. W32/Nachi-A
(Nachi worm) 2.6% 8. W32/Mimail-J (Mimail variant) 2.4% 9.
W32/Klez-H (Klez variant) 2.2% 22 months in chart 10. W32/Mimail-E
(Mimail variant) 1.5% Others 22.1% "Although Mimail made five
appearances in this month's chart -- totaling over a quarter
of all reports -- it is the bilingual Sober worm that has
caused the most problems for computer users this month," said
Chris Belthoff, senior security analyst at Lynnfield, MA -
based, Sophos, Inc.
Maxtor said that Victor Company of Japan
Ltd (JVC), involved in the development, manufacturing,
and sales of audio, visual, and computer-related products,
has selected Maxtor(R) QuickView(R) consumer electronics (CE)
hard disk drives for its DR-MH5, HDD & DVD video recorder.
"We are pleased to continue building upon our strong relationship
with JVC," said Mike Cordano, executive vice president, worldwide
sales and marketing at Maxtor. "This selection is yet another
proof point in Maxtor's strength in the Digital Entertainment
market and demonstrates our commitment to providing consumer
electronics manufacturers with the best advancements in disk
drive technology." The new JVC DR-MH5 HDD & DVD recorder
incorporates a Maxtor 120GB QuickView CE hard disk drive.
The drive provides approximately 120 hours of video recording
and has the ability to record two programs simultaneously.
In addition, the DR-MH5 includes a ghost reduction tuner which
brings the ability to record clearer images. SnapGear,
a leader in embedded Linux security, provides design, engineering
and fulfillment services for network appliances that ensure
secure Internet communications for business. SnapGear partners
with OEM customers including Vivendi to deliver custom security
solutions worldwide. It also distributes VPN/firewall security
products through systems integrators in more than 40 countries.
SnapGear's engineering team has been instrumental in the development
of uClinux, which has been ported to more than 100 chip architectures,
as well as the pioneering implementation of Microsoft's PPTP
VPN standard on Linux. SnapGear's Embedded Linux distribution
includes uClinux, which runs in more than 20 million devices
globally. SnapGear, which is profitable and currently turns
about $10 million a year, is able to take sales away from
Cisco and other larger competitors in the small to medium
sized enterprise market and above with products that sell
for as little as 1/5th that of Cisco products. InFocus has
selected UPS Supply Chain Solutions as its provider for logistics
services. UPS Supply Chain Solutions will provide InFocus
with repair and refurbishment services in the United States.
Ultimately, InFocus intends to expand the relationship with
UPS Supply Chain Solutions to have it perform global repair
and refurbishment, logistics and transportation services.
The services to be provided will assist InFocus, its partners
and customers in lowering logistics, transportation and operating
costs. UPS's best-in-practice techniques and scalable capabilities
are expected to improve product delivery and meet global service
demands. "As the leader in projection technology, we chose
to team with UPS, a best-in-class company that is as dedicated
to customer and partner service as we are," said Kyle Ranson,
executive vice president, Worldwide Sales & Marketing.
"This unique agreement in the projection industry sets the
bar for seamless customer service between InFocus, our partners
and end-user customers; allows for optimization of inventory
in a central location, and increases the efficiency of moving
inventory assets by reducing the number of product touches.
Also with added flexibility, shipments can arrive in a matter
of days or overnight depending on the ever-changing needs
of customers." Entel Corporation, a VoIP
equipment manufacturer, has committed to provide enterprise,
SME, SOHO and ISP/ITSP the best, scalable and reliable application/solutions
to their voice infrastructure. With the introduction of SIP
protocol included in the VOiP product line, Entel's technology
will assist companies in substantially lowering communication
cost with the most innovate technology in VoIP. Starting the
fall of 2003, Entel announced SIP (Session Initiation Protocol)
as part of our ECGate family. The SIP protocol is designed
to address the functions of signaling and session management
within a packet telephony network. Signaling allows call information
to be carried across network boundaries while session management
provides the ability to control attributes of an end-to-end
call. Like other ECGate series, the 4300 series has the same
benefits and advantages with the rest of the family but with
added features and applications of the SIP protocol. Mark
Chang, Managing Director announced that, "Entel will provide
financial packages for the reseller. These to include floor
plans, end user leasing and financing. By having a financial
package we can assist our resellers in providing communications
solutions that save money from acquisition to implementation
to usage!" Polycom, a publicly traded provider
of video and voice conferencing, conference bridges, and integrated
Web collaboration services, inked a deal to acquire Voyant
Technologies, a provider of video conferencing and
collaboration services in exchange for approximately $110.7
million in cash consideration, or $95.7 million net of the
expected amount of Voyant cash to be available at the closing.
Voyant received a $15 million investment from TA Associates
in October 2000. Kashya, a leader in high-performance,
cost-effective business continuity solutions, announced today
the appointment of industry veteran Ken Epstein as Vice President
of Sales. Epstein will be responsible for overseeing Kashya's
expanding sales team and rapidly expanding the list of customers
adopting the innovative KBX4000 Kashya Data Protection Appliance(TM)
into their corporate infrastructures. Epstein has more than
two decades of global information technology sales and sales
management experience in the storage industry. Prior to joining
Kashya, he was Vice President of Sales at TrueSAN, a provider
of unified information management and a supplier of next-generation
network storage systems and software. Red Hat
announced that Alex Pinchev, who was appointed President of
International Operations in April, 2003, will assume executive
leadership of worldwide sales in addition to leading Red Hat's
international operations. Red Hat also announced that Tim
Buckley, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer
with responsibility for North American sales and global channel
sales, will retire after five years with Red Hat.
The Support Net Division of Arrow Electronics has formed a
sales division that will allow IBM resellers to gain access
to the multi-billion-dollar government IT market. "The government
IT market is one of the fastest-growing technology sectors
today and resellers need support in this growing market,"
said Eric Williams, executive vice president, Support Net
Division. "We see an enormous opportunity to open the door
for our resellers to increase their presence in the government
IT sector. We've responded to the opportunity by making a
significant investment in creating a national sales and support
organization devoted to helping our partners to develop this
market." With a dedicated national staff and infrastructure
in place, Arrow's Federal Government Sales Division will provide
sales and marketing support, strategic development, technical
support services, and customer and contract management to
IBM resellers seeking government contracts. "To effectively
sell into the government market, you need the capability to
meet government pricing requirements and demonstrate that
you can support government customers," said Kevin M. Costello,
vice president, Federal Systems Integrators, IBM. "Arrow's
Support Net Division brings a proven organization to the table
that will help give IBM resellers the status and support they
need to gain a greater foothold in government IT."
 |
Changing
Channels
By Steve Cross |
What's Important These Days? Obviously revenue is #1 on the
hit parade this year. However, during the recent downturn,
companies were so focused on revenue that they forgot to do
all sorts of important things.
Here's what's important all the time: Figure out who your
customers are. The more detail the better. Marketers and customer
outreach people need to pin up a picture and a description
of their target customer over their desks. Everything you
write, every ad placement, every outbound email, the script
your telesales people use, your web site, and your product
placements in the channel all need to support acquisition
and support of the target customer.
Continue to spend, but spend appropriately. A consultant friend
had a client that placed multiple end caps in retail every
month of the year, across their entire retail channel. Until
my friend did an ROI analysis, that is. He found that about
1/3 of the end caps were losing money! Just because an item
is budgeted does not make it right, or an appropriate level
of spending. Then spend the right amount on reaching the right
customer (see above).
Take caps off your commissions, if your company has caps.
This is one really cheap way to stimulate additional and incremental
sales. If capped commissions are a religious issue with the
company, even the Pope grants exemptions. If your company
is not doing direct marketing; start. Whether you plan on
sending emails for outreach, a newsletter for communication
and informing, or a postcard announcing an update/upgrade,
start communicating and keep communicating. If you don't take
care of your customers, somebody else would love to do it
for you!
Revenue is always going to #1. But if you think it's the only
important thing; you're mistaken.
Contact Steve Cross at steve@crosschannel.com,
702-492-7472. Editor's Note: Steve is a channel consultant
To
view this email as a web page, click
here.
We respect your right to privacy - click here
to view the Gartner policy.
Click here
to unsubscribe or modify your email profile.
|
