Lotus Development SA is in the throes of educating its channel on the benefits of migrating customers from simple messaging to a groupware environment, with a series of packages and incentives now on the table.
The marketing initiative, modeled on programmes successfully run elsewhere in EMEA, kicked off recently with a `migration mania` day, where Lotus staff teamed up and visited over 60 business partners, distributors and VARs in and around Gauteng and Cape Town.
Steve Ayres, Lotus/IBM partner sales manager, views the day as a success, especially for resellers, with awareness of the issues surrounding cc:Mail to Lotus Domino/Notes migration having significantly increased.
"We are presenting our channel with a complete packaged solution which can be offered to those customers already running a simple e-mail system but looking for more from their messaging infrastructure," he says.
"Feedback from resellers tells us that the need for a clear migration path is there. These options will make doing business that much easier."
The package is readily available for 50, 150 or 300 users, with pricing becoming increasingly competitive as the number of seats grows. Lotus and its Business Partners will tackle cases involving more than 300 users on an ad hoc pricing basis.
The migration package will, for the first time, allow resellers without specific skills to offer a complete solution to their customers - and at the same time make significant revenue and margin.
"In addition to offering our Domino server, we are adding installation, consulting and education services to the mix. These can be delivered by either Lotus or its authorised Business Partners," explains Ayres.
"The comprehensive service will assist resellers and business partners with a migration implementation. We expect five days [each] of education and consulting to be the average requirement."
While the solution is aimed primarily at those corporates with an existing e-mail infrastructure, Ayres says it can be tailored for companies which lack any messaging.
"We are seeing a vast number of small to medium businesses businesses going the intranet route. Installing a Domino server and a Notes or browser client is one of the simplest and least costly ways to kick start the process.
"By capitalising on our strategy, resellers and partners have a single, straightforward answer for their customers."
From an incentive standpoint, Lotus is to directly reward the reseller salespeople responsible for a migration package sale. The company is also motivating its distributors - Datatec, HNR and Siltek Distribution Dynamics (SDD) - to move the solution into the channel.
"Vendors are often criticised for not making adequate resources or education available the channel. With the vast installed base of simple messaging out there, we are not going to make that mistake," adds Ayres.
"Our first `migration mania` day was just the beginning. We are planning similar initiatives for the rest of the year. And as our partners become totally au fait with our strategies, we expect to make even greater in-roads into the local groupware, messaging and knowledge management markets."
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