CA names Ideal as top Euro distributor

Commitment to staff training and portfolio development key factors

Bell Microproducts subsidiary Ideal Hardware has been named Computer Associates' (CA's) European distributor of the year by meeting the software vendor's strict channel skills and support requirements.

CA currently uses Computer 2000, Ingram Micro, DMS and Ideal in the UK to distribute its software products.

"Ideal has met our stringent criteria for receiving this award in terms of customer service, growing CA business and the use of innovative services such as the Boris online licensing," said George Kafkarkou, general manager of indirect channels for Europe, Middle East & Africa (EMEA) at CA.

Ideal's commitment to staff training and portfolio development were key factors in receiving the award, explained Kafkarkou. "Ideal boasts a highly knowledgeable sales team and has invested in its software division portfolio," he said.

Chris Devlin, CA's senior vice president for storage in EMEA, said Ideal is the firm's largest distributor in the UK by volume. Most of this product is storage software, he said.

"Ideal is unique because it has staff training taking place every morning in dedicated classrooms. Many companies will do this only once a week so this allows Ideal to add real value in terms of available information," he said.

Despite ease of storage, online licensing and downloadable products, Devlin said that tier-two distribution is still essential in software distribution.

"Today we need value-add partnerships with distributors, because customers are looking for solutions that the distributor can offer through resellers," said Devlin. "Distributors are important to help pass expertise on to the resellers."