The second is we've been putting more of our money into co-marketing with partners these days. For example, on our PartnerWorld Web site, we have a campaign designer to help solution providers generate demand. We can do the mailing campaigns with them and then they can execute [them] themselves. Third, you have to have a compensation plan that is neutral to the channel. Your own sales force has to be at least equally incented to use partners. That kind of equality fosters good co-work. If a partner needs a specialist to help them close a deal, I want the specialist right there. I want him to drop everything he's doing and go help the partner close the business because they get paid for it. Everybody isn't able to close everything himself. So whether it's access to the CIO or whether it's a brand specialist, our guys are compensated to help the partners.
Kafkarkou: We have systems at CA that can track any opportunity from where it came from [to] where it went within our organization. The direct-sales rep can see these opportunities; he knows the sales execs at your company on that account, and we track it and drive it together.
Borman: But your CRM system basically has to tie into your fulfillment system, then. And it also ties into the company's worldwide forecasting system.
Grimes: The issues in my mind are ensuring that the financial side of the world understands that the channel has value and at least could be a lower-cost distribution capability than the direct sales force. But it's painfully hard to prove that empirically.
Borman: Our CFO wants to know, is the investment we're making in the channel the right investment? We need to prove that. That's why we have systems that go from where the opportunity started and who should build it because we're trying to make sure that we understand. In our surveys, we have found that more than two-thirds of the opportunity in the industry is identified by systems integrators or ISVs and not the direct-sales force that the three of us have in our companies,
Discover the benefits of scalable backbone and network services for application and cloud providers.
Network automation is gaining momentum. Here's how you can drive this powerful technology to its full potential.
Subsea cable alternatives can provide a level of comfort for those concerned about disruptions. Realistically, they will continue to play a small, but critical role in the short term.
