Sterling considers switch to channel

Sterling Software is looking to adopt a reseller strategy for the first time, developing the third-party channels inherited through its recent purchase of Texas Instruments Software (TIS).

The mainframe software supplier has traditionally sold direct into large corporates, but it was reviewing policy in an attempt to penetrate the client/server market. Sterling expects to appoint a vice president to establish an international channels strategy by August.

Gillian Padrello, vice president of Sterling?s international business, said: ?We?ll need to develop channels for our distributed products as we come out with more of them. There?s very little to see of a Sterling Software brand at the moment. We don?t do corporate image.?

She added that the acquisition of TIS had greatly increased Sterling?s international presence and boosted its third-party sales channels, which the company intended to build on.

Meanwhile, Sterling will position its Key family of modelling and analysis tools as complementary to TIS?s Composer Case tools suite. It plans to introduce a common interface to both product families.

The company sees the acquisition of TIS as a way of reinventing itself as a components supplier. It will outline plans for platform-independent Java-based tools, object libraries and object assembly tools in June.

Sterling Williams, Sterling president and chief executive, said: ?TIS has an inherent bureaucracy in being a large company, but it won?t in the future. The biggest improvements will come in the field and we?ll rationalise sales staff. At $100 million, our application development business is not as big as we?d like, but it is profitable. TIS is fast growing, but not profitable, but it will help us grow bigger.?