Hard Facts: December 16, 2002

Rebounding from a sharp decline in September, the overall level of solution provider satisfaction with software vendors rose in both October and November, reaching its highest level since May, according to data from CRN's monthly Channel Satisfaction Survey.

>> In most cases, the higher ratings were due both to an increase in satisfied solution providers and a decline in those that were dissatisfied.

Seven of the 11 software vendors regularly surveyed by CRN saw increases in their overall channel satisfaction rating in November compared with October. Gains were particularly strong for Microsoft, Red Hat, Check Point, Vignette and Veritas, although Computer Associates and BEA Systems also saw smaller increases. The overall channel satisfaction rating is defined as the percentage of solution providers that are satisfied with channel programs minus the percentage that are dissatisfied.

For most of the vendors, the rise in their satisfaction standing was due to both an increase in the percentage of solution providers that reported they were satisfied and a decrease in the percentage that said they were dissatisfied. Microsoft is a typical example, with the percentage of satisfied solution providers increasing to 57 percent from 48 percent during October, while the percentage that were dissatisfied dropping to 21 percent from 27 percent.