Symantec: Still On Track

Symantec Vice Chairman and President Bloom, the former Veritas CEO, said last week he plans to leave by the end of March.

The company is still on track to deliver the first phase of a new channel program this quarter that integrates the Symantec and Veritas programs, said Julie Parrish, vice president of global channel sales and strategy. Bloom was very involved in plans to integrate the channel programs early on and that process is well on its way, Parrish said.

On the product front, the road maps are in place and won&'t change because of his departure, Parrish added.

Symantec solution providers also don&'t expect the move to signal any major changes in how they deal with the Cupertino, Calif.-based company.

“They&'ve made good progress on that so now it&'s probably time for him to move on and look for the next opportunity,” said Norm Shockley, CEO of Adeara, a Sunnyvale, Calif.-based Symantec partner that has worked with Veritas since before the acquisition.

Shockley said he has seen marked improvement in Veritas&' channel program since the deal. “The Veritas channel programs are becoming more partner-friendly because of the merger, so I&'m seeing them come together more with a common look and feel,” he said.

Bloom&'s departure should in no way impact Symantec&'s moves to introduce channel-neutral compensation to Veritas sales reps this spring, said Hayes Drumwright, CEO of Trace3, a Veritas partner in Irvine, Calif. “That&'s something I think Symantec is driving, [not Bloom],” he said.

Bloom came to Symantec as vice chairman and president in July with the close of the merger. His is the fourth high-level executive departure since that time.

Bloom initially shared the president title with Symantec&'s pre-merger president, John Schwarz, but Schwarz left to become CEO of Business Objects in September. And in October, longtime Symantec channel chief Allyson Seelinger left and was replaced by Parrish, the former Veritas channel chief. Seelinger&'s resignation was followed in November by the departure of Symantec CFO Greg Myers.

JENNIFER HAGENDORF FOLLETT contributed to this story.