Goldmine revs up channel effort

Contact management software vendor Goldmine has vowed to triple channel revenue by the end of the year, following its merger with helpdesk group Bendata.

Colorado developer Bendata, a wholly-owned subsidiary of South African Ixchange Technology Holdings, will buy all of privately-held Californian Goldmine's 10 million outstanding shares. The company will continue to trade as Goldmine.

The announcement came as Goldmine said it would intensify its UK channel activities via sole distributor AVG Sales and Marketing. John Strosahl, international managing director at Goldmine Software, told PC Dealer that the goal is to triple European revenue to $6 million this year.

'We are finally doing what a vendor should be doing, which is to build the brand,' he said.

Christine Allenet, Goldmine's recently installed UK country manager, said the company's focus would be to recruit more Vars, using an allocated budget of $200,000. AVG will increase the reseller base from the present level of 100 to up to 600 in the next six months through its partner programme, Allenet said. In addition, it will double the number of top-level specialist resellers to about 30.

The merged group will have two divisions - one focused on front office applications for sales, marketing and customer support, and the other focused on internal helpdesk applications. Goldmine Frontoffice is planned for release in the third quarter, selling through the existing Goldmine channel.

Martyn Riddle, European marketing manager at Bendata, said it was unclear how the merger will affect the sales strategy of the respective divisions. Bendata generates the majority of its sales through a direct sales force, although it launched a worldwide channel partner programme in January to develop both enterprise and niche markets.

'It's business as usual because both companies have record revenue streams at the moment. But discussions have begun to look at ways we can utilise each other's sales channels,' said Riddle.

Bendata has set itself the target of recruiting 30 Vars in the UK this year. Riddle said that two had been brought on board already, but more were in the pipeline, including one with a significant player in the services and systems market, although he declined to cite the company's name.

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