Baan SA has set up an indirect channel, in addition to its direct sales force, to cope with market demand for its enterprise-wide solutions. Newly appointed channel manager Paul Cronin says the indirect channel will focus on the small and medium enterprise while its current direct sales force will continue to concentrate on larger corporate accounts. "This methodology follows Baan International`s model of selling which has proved so successful in the rest of the world," says Cronin, who comes to Baan SA with extensive experience in manufacturing, distribution and in working with channel partners in the IT industry. Through a new Baan Business Partner programme, Baan internationally is expanding its distribution network by selecting service-oriented partners to distribute its solution. These partners will provide Baan applications, consultancy, training and implementation expertise, ensuring that customers have easy access to Baan-certified resources worldwide. The product, which will be the main focus of the indirect channel, will be the recently released Baan IV Back Office. "Baan IV Back Office is a fully integrated Enterprise Resource Planning solution which is Microsoft Certified and runs on Windows NT," says Cronin. "In terms of new opportunities we can now offer our prospective customer an alternative to UNIX and can deliver the very strategy that many users have been wanting, an enterprise solution based on Microsoft products. "The functionality of Baan IV Back Office is the same as the UNIX product," says Cronin, "the only difference is that we are taking advantage of Microsoft`s ease of use to make the system user installable. This will help us manage our service resources and ensure that as our customer base grows our services requirements don`t slow us down. Baan is perceived as a top-end product in the corporate market but with our new indirect strategy, our products will now be available to small and medium businesses too," says Cronin. Baan SA has introduced localised pricing, a move which positions it favourably as a solution provider in the SME market. Cronin is scouring the market for suitable channel partners who can add real value in terms of sales. Selected partners will need to invest in acquiring sales consultancy, implementation and ongoing training skills. The channel partners will also need to have an established reputation in the market and will undergo stringent assessment from Baan International. "The primary objective will be to migrate as many small to medium enterprises as possible from dated legacy systems onto the new product "Our emphasis is on creating a quality channel rather than one which is recognised by pure numbers," concludes Cronin.
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