CA prepares for battle in Rome

Vendor claims new partner programme has all the ingredients to win share in internet security space

Late last month CA flew its partners out to Rome to walk them through the channel programme it hopes will kickstart its progress in the internet security space.

Better known for its high-end IT management software, CA has lacked clout in the threat management sector since it entered the market in 1996. Despite its massive $4bn (£2.9bn) annual turnover, the vendor holds just two per cent share of the global internet security market.

But CA is determined to step out of the shadow of larger rivals Symantec, McAfee and Trend Micro, and in October 2007 separated its internet security products into their own business unit.

It then shelled out $500,000 on researching its rivals’ channel programmes to ensure its own was among the best in the business.

Launched in July last year, CA claims the Internet Security Business Unit (ISBU) partner programme surpasses all others in technical support, special bids, online demos and opportunity management.

Uphill struggle

In the UK, ISBU works with distributors Ingram Micro, Computer 2000 and CMS Peripherals and regularly transacts with some 2,000 resellers, including Platinum partners Insight, Redstone and Misco. Globally, ISBU has about 10,000 active partners.

But CA is well aware it faces an uphill struggle to convince resellers that it has turned a corner in its channel strategy.

Mark Hudson, head of marketing at CA Silver partner Datanetex, voiced his concerns about working with the vendor. “CA’s products are outstanding. But as a seller, we struggle. When you have a problem, getting information out of them is like getting teeth from a rocking horse and we want to know what their commitment to partners is.”

He added that the high frequency of local management changes in recent years has also put a strain on channel relations.

Peter Cooper, senior director of EMEA channel sales for CA, was quick to acknowledge these concerns, but was confident that the vendor’s new channel programme would enable it to win back the trust of the channel.

“CA has always had great intentions, but may not have had the skills it needed in the two-tier space,” he said. “But today we have more experienced leaders. That is why we have spent so much effort developing the new partner programme and portal.”

George Kafkarkou, general manager of ISBU, said CA had spent significant resources benchmarking competitors to ensure the programme leads the way.

Of note is CA partners’ ability to schedule online demos for customers in 72 hours’ notice.

“It is the only partner programme in the world to offer this,” said Kafkarkou. “Whenever any partner uses this, the sales cycle is shrunk.”

The scheme also includes a pledge from CA to respond to partners’ technical support queries within three minutes - an area in which it admits having been weak in the past.

And the vendor has invested money into an opportunity management system that alerts partners 90 days before a renewal is due.

Also new is CA’s automated special pricing system that approves quotes in an average of 2.1 days. The tool is designed to make it easier for CA partners to dislodge rival vendors, such as Symantec, in competitive situations.

Building internet security

However, according to Cooper, CA’s growth strategy will not be driven by starting a punch-up with the market leader, but by extending the total available market for internet security software.

“Even the large resellers have barely scratched the surface in terms of the number of PCs they sell with security software,” he explained.

“If they are shipping 1,000 PCs a month, 750 will not have internet security and we can help them manage that delta. We are not interested in taking competitors’ share; just give me those 750 to go at.

“Previously, we did not have sufficient resources or infrastructure to be able to deliver this, but we do now,” added Cooper.

CA is set to launch four additional sales enablement tools in April, including a facility for online chat and a proposal and information request tool to make it easier for resellers to apply for large-scale tenders.

“From an EMEA perspective we are genuinely trying to find ways of making partners more profitable and it is not just about saying we will give you money off,” said Cooper.

According to IDC, the internet security market continues to grow at about 11 per cent annually and Kafkarkou maintained the sector would continue to provide a solid revenue stream for the channel in 2009.

“There is no downturn in malware writers,” he said. “Indeed, there is empirical evidence that when there is an economic slowdown there are even more malware writers as they do not have a job.

“We protect 17 million nodes from malware every day and we are just warming up.”
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