Open Text moves into UK

Open Text, the Web-based knowledge management vendor, is racing against time to establish a qualified reseller channel in the UK for its flagship product Livelink Intranet.

The Canadian vendor believes it has about a year before rival companies follow its lead in developing intranet software that combines workflow, groupware, document management and search engine functionality in one package.

Rob Cheshire, recently appointed UK channel manager at Open Text, said: 'Time is of the essence. Livelink is the only knowledge management product to combine these four applications. But it won't be long before rivals follow suit and adopt a collaborative approach.'

In a bid to attract experienced Vars, Cheshire has promised prospective partners they will not face competition from Open Text's direct sales force once they have been allocated a particular market or a geographic region.

He said: 'If a partner can convince us it has expertise in a certain market sector, it can grow its business without the fear that Open Text will step in on the large accounts. The aim is to have a 100 per cent indirect sales force within two years.'

Cheshire added that the biggest challenge was finding resellers with the necessary skills in implementing knowledge management software. He has already turned away a number of potential partners on this basis.

Kevin Osborn, managing director of Livelink reseller Linkhand Image, which also sells rival products, agreed that Open Text had its work cut out.

He said: 'In this market the product is peerless, but there are not enough technically proficient people to go round.'