3Com Draws Closer To Partners

Dobson said this is the first of many shifts to come for 3Com, which in its bid to get closer to the customer has hired several new telemarketers and inside sales reps, with plans to hire more staff to round out the direct facing sales organization.

"We're growing our direct touch sales organization quite aggressively to find resellers new business and help them close," he said, after telling solution providers on the first Webinar that "it's [3Com's] responsibility to play a much more direct role in bringing customers to you."

And for VARs, once frustrated and considering 3Com a sinking ship, the tide is starting to turn.

Frank Kobuszewski, vice president of the technology solutions group of CXtec, a Syracuse, N.Y.-based solution provider and 3Com partner, said 3Com honing its messaging to end users and bringing partners into the fold to get 3Com on customers' radar screens is a move in the right direction.

"It's a nice clean message It's time they execute on that," he said.

And while the word "direct" can often be a frightening term for any partner, Gulling said he's embracing 3Com's method of directness.

"I never felt for one instance that we should fear this," he said.

Gulling said it's often difficult for VARs to get their foot in the door to communicate their strategy to potential customers, and having 3Com come in and help with that initial phase will ease some of that difficulty.

"The whole effort is to create a vehicle for you to get into the deal," he said, noting that with the bulked up sales force he expects to have more coverage in the field. "To me, more resources in the field is always beneficial. We see literally twice as many people in the field. Now the SEs have time to meet with us on a monthly basis if we need to."

More field coverage and 3Com's new "hands on" approach, Gulling said, should lead to an uptick in sales.

"With the economics being what they are today, now is the time for 3Com to approach customers," he said. "Offering greater value alternatives really opens the door for us."

Dobson said the moves 3Com is making will help the company "get back to its roots" and overcome the issues that plagued it in the past.

"All vendors have their issues," he said. "All vendors have things that occur. 3Com has had its challenges. Where we've made that worse is we haven't been out there enough. I'm really looking to a grass roots kind of effort that shows up in opportunities and customer wins."

Dobson said 3Com's channel transformation will continue over the coming months. The company is also working on updating the outdated partner access portal on its Web site, all to make 3Com more visible and approachable and easier for partners to communicate and do business with.

Overall, he said, as the changes take shape he expects 3Com to come out swinging.

"I expect we're going to see an increase in new customers and new business," he said, adding that larger deal sizes are also anticipated.