Troubled NA refocuses on separate units

Amid top-level staff changes, a profit warning and a plummeting share price, security software vendor Network Associates is restructuring its distribution model in an attempt to use its channel better.

Amid top-level staff changes, a profit warning and a plummeting share price, security software vendor Network Associates (NA) is restructuring its distribution model in an attempt to use its channel better.

Its four business divisions - McAfee, Sniffer Technologies, Magic Solutions and PGP Security - will be separated into individual sales units after the company identified the difficulty of reselling a broad range of products.

Sarah Whipp, global channel marketing manager at NA, said a similar individual focus is used in the US and is very successful. "It does not work when you expect salespeople to have in-depth knowledge of a broad range of products," she said.

"We used to have a 'channel unfriendly' policy, but now we have tried to change it to be more beneficial to the channel," she added, explaining that the company is planning channel-friendly strategies for all four business units.

Ash Hussain, sales and marketing director at NA Platinum reseller Axial Systems, said: "Axial deals with only the Sniffer and McAfee products. We realise how difficult it is to approach an organisation with such a broad range of solutions, and we see this as a positive move."

Andy Shepperd, general manager of networking at NA customer Computer 2000, agreed that it is a constructive move. "The concept is the right thing to do in that marketplace, and follows what other vendors have done in aiding the reseller," he said.

The move follows the recent announcement of board changes and an expected loss of between $130m and $140m for its fourth quarter ended 31 December.

Bill Larson, former NA chief executive, has been replaced by George Samenuk, formerly of IBM. Samenuk is a strong believer in the importance of the channel and has vowed to work closely with NA's reseller partners.