Pegasus finds channel voice

Pegasus has re-established communication with its channel, ending a period of silence and uncertainty following the vendor's takeover by reseller-turned-vendor Freecom.net.

Pegasus has re-established communication with its channel, ending a period of silence and uncertainty following the vendor's takeover by reseller-turned-vendor Freecom.net.

Last week Pegasus unveiled to its partners its new streamlined 32bit product range: Capital Gold, which will replace Capital Lite, Accounts and Payrole; and Opera 32, which will replace Opera 16bit. E-Business Gateway, an XML-enabled portal that automates customer invoicing and ordering over the web, has also been developed with Systems Union.

MPower, its accounting software for small businesses, looks likely to be scrapped. The company said it is looking to replace it with a scaled-down version of the Sun Systems product made by Systems Union, another division of Freecom.

Replaced products will be supported for one year with free updates, and part-exchange offers will be made available to customers who want to upgrade.

Paul White, managing director of Pegasus, admitted the company had much to do to regain reseller confidence. He said: "An information vacuum has existed between ourselves and our partners since the takeover, and in hindsight we should have done a better job."

White allayed reseller fears that Freecom would try to consolidate the company's position, concentrating only on the top 100 VARs. He said Pegasus would be encouraging its top resellers to become application service providers, but denied Pegasus was trying to restructure the channel.

John Dixon, managing director of Computime, said while the Freecom takeover caused upheaval, Pegasus would "see the benefits of this alliance".

Pegasus is expected to hold further talks with partners, and a number of regional events are in the pipeline.