Computer Associates has formalised arrangements with its overseas office for the local handling of the Cheyenne suite of products. Cheyenne was acquired by CA 2 years ago, with the name being scrapped and all its products now fully branded under the CA umbrella.
Paul Dunford, CA`s EMEA Vice President for Indirect Sales and Marketing, was in Johannesburg this week, and has confirmed that the local, Computer Associates` office, Computer Associates Africa, will manage the distribution of the existing product range as well as rolling out 14 new and relaunched products over the next year.
CA Africa, which has restructured its channel strategy - it aims at increasing sales via the channel to 50% - will use Drive Control and LAN Design as its routes to market.
"After the acquisition the Cheyenne range was managed indirectly from the United Kingdom with the result that there was not as much focus as there should have been. That was obviously not satisfactory, and we`re now throwing our full weight behind CA Africa and its channel partners," Dunford said. "That support will include marketing, pre- and post-sales and technical assistance where required."
CA`s Channel Manager, Mark Knight confirmed that CA was actively seeking added human resource to staff up technical and channel management requirements.
"Our Resellers provide the end-user market pull, however we`re seriously looking at a 100% growth in market share over the next year. In terms of NetWare and NT-related products, there is currently significant market share, yet we still believe we can increase local presence even further," Knight said.
Products such as ArcServe, Inoculan and FaxServe, he said, had made an impact on the local market, and CA would strive to break into new, untapped sectors.
Stressing the need to add substance to the channel, Knight said direct sales was inherently limiting and that partnerships with the channel was a critical focus area for the company. He said CA would provide extra training, bring users into CA`s popular User Group community, and provide added end-user marketing tools.
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