Networks - Attachmate and the channel one year on

The vendor's progress after last year's rocky patch.

Attachmate's channel structure must be a minimalist's dream compared with just over a year ago when the connectivity vendor was knee-deep in sticky situations with its distributors.

In early 1997, Attachmate was selling products through Azlan, Ingram Micro, Computer 2000 and specialist distributor Ethan Adams.

However, under the directorship of former Attachmate managing director Graham Jones, Ingram and Azlan's future with the vendor was far from bright.

According to John Morgan, channel manager at Attachmate, Jones had already severed the relationship with Azlan earlier in the year. 'But when Graham left in March, I agreed with (Azlan) product marketing director Nick Kandola to renew the relationship for a three-month period,' he said.

By the end of the trial, Kandola had left and sales of Attachmate's products were non-existent. 'It had not purchased one product from us in three months. I think when both parties met we knew the relationship was over,' said Morgan.

Azlan was also distributing products for Attachmate's arch rival Wall Data, and as Morgan admits: 'We didn't want a conflict of interests.'

The vendor's relationship with Ingram Micro did not fair any better.

'Ingram was not doing much work with us in April last year, in fact you could count the orders it placed on one hand,' Morgan said.

It was at this point that the arrangement was terminated, leaving just C2000 and a group of specialist distributors to carry the can.

By last summer, Morgan said the vendor had decided to review how it would use its channel. 'We had plans to use a distributor in a different way and went with a sole agreement with C2000,' he explained.

Morgan admitted that Attachmate had an ambivalent relationship with the channel. Historically, the vendor had sold directly, until it merged in December 1994 with Digital Communications Associates, which had an indirect route to market.

The following year, Attachmate began to sell a chunk of its products through the channel but kept a number of direct customers on its books.

In fact Morgan maintains this is still a practice that continues today, even though the company has an exclusive deal with C2000, specialist distribution with Ethan Adams, Kerridge Networking Systems and Flynet and 50 reseller partners.

Morgan said: 'Last year, 89 per cent of our turnover came though third-party sales from historical customers.'

A figure was not available for this year's third-party sales but Morgan said he expected the percentage of business being directed through the channel to have reduced.

He vehemently denied that this arrangement caused any conflict with its partners. 'If we did go direct, we would not undercut our resellers, they would still get the margin,' he said.

Morgan added that all products were supplied through C2000 due to Attachmate's warehouse being based in Shannon, Ireland: 'Our turnaround is not as fast as C2000's and cannot supply product as quickly.'

So, one year on, and Attachmate appears to have ironed out most of the bumps in its channel structure by honing down its distributors.

But with the industry's renowned dislike of anything direct, and the underlying threat of historical customers rearing their ugly heads, how long can this idyllic setup last?