CA reassures VARs after management reshuffle

Software vendor's newly appointed UK vice president looks to ease partner concerns

CA’s new UK head has been quick to reassure the channel that stability is a priority for the vendor following yet more management changes.

As revealed by CRN earlier this week (CRN Online, 7 November), the software vendor lost its UK and Ireland country manager Mark Bridger and channel manager Mike Feltwell, who replaced channel sales manager Terry O’Loughlin earlier this year (CRN, 7 May).

The vendor has also broken the UK and Ireland away from the Northern EMEA region, setting it up as a standalone region within Europe.

Chris Miller has been appointed as senior vice president and area manager of the UK and Ireland to spearhead the new region.

Speaking to CRN, Miller said: “We have made the UK and Ireland a standalone region for a number of reasons - the region is successful, but we believe it has a lot of potential and it enables us to put a lot more focus on our partners.”

Miller said there would be no significant change at all to CA’s partner strategy, but admitted that some partners may voice concerns.

“I can understand that some partners will be concerned, particularly if they have had contact with certain people,” Miller added. “But one thing I want to bring to the business going forward is stability. Partners are going to see us building the foundations of growth for the future.”

However, channel partners were surprised to hear of the changes.

Loay Lawrence, commercial director of VAR Vohkus, said: “Partners need stability. CA needs to focus on the customer facing part of the channel, which is the reseller. It needs to engage more with VARs to help them grow their business.”

Dave Simpson, sales director at VAR Softcat said: “I’m surprised at this. However, CA has a very compelling product set and its account management team is excellent. The next step is to have a decent engagement at the top level with CA and hopefully they will focus more on this with these changes.”

Tariq Saied, managing director of VAR Redstone Managed Solutions, said: “Mike and Mark were both quite recent appointees, so obviously this has come as a bit of a surprise.

“As a partner we have not been officially told about this yet, but it would be great if we do get the period of stability that CA is promising.”