CA To Replace Channel Chief, Alter Unicenter Sales Strategy

Computer Associates International

Solution providers and channel sources said CA plans to replace Gad Tobaly, group general manager of channel sales, with Mark Milford, senior vice president and general manager of storage management products.

The company declined to comment on the move, but partners said CA will place Tobaly in a different position within the company. Partners expect CA to announce the changes at CAWorld, April 21-25 in Orlando, Fla.

"Mark brings a tremendous depth of experience to the job," said Kevin Barker, managing partner at Independent Technology Group, a Los Angeles-based CA solution provider. "I've been following his career and think he's done a great job."

CA also is restructuring the Unicenter enterprise management software program by partnering solution providers with the direct sales force to help eradicate the intense conflict that has developed in that space over the last year, partners said.

"From my perspective, there was continued conflict with direct sales and a lack of direction as to where the channel fit in the Unicenter space," Barker said, adding that his company lost a substantial amount of Unicenter business to CA's direct sales force during the past year. "It was always each side hoarding their own sales. Now we'll be working as an extension to their direct sales team, helping them handle their quotas."

CA has successfully deployed similar structures in other product areas, partners said.

"Working with direct sales was so important to our value-added partnerships," said Dharmender Matha, president of PeakIT, an Iselin, N.J.-based solution provider that focuses on CA's AllFusion Process Modeler design tool.

"Direct sales usually dealt with the big orders at the corporate level. Now we can work together to close sales," Matha said.

Partners don't yet know how CA will compensate its direct sales force under the Unicenter enterprise program, but they stressed that the terms and conditions should be clearly defined.

"It would motivate the direct sales force more if they understood exactly how they would be compensated if the sale goes on channel paper," said Steve Pazol, president of Professional Consulting Services, a Chicago-based solution provider. Pazol credits Milford with establishing clear rules of engagement between CA's channel direct sales across the BrightStor storage line.

Partners, in general, praise Milford for building solid channel programs and working to eliminate conflict in the storage division. They also had mixed feelings about Tobaly's pending reassignment.

"Gad has been responsive, and he built up a great team," said Greg Richey, CEO of Richey Systems, an Anaheim, Calif.-based solution provider that integrates the full suite of Unicenter offerings. "Management at CA is run from the top down, so one of the reasons I think we've had such great success with CA is because of him."

Chuck Hosea, president of Maximum Connectivity, an Atlanta-based CA solution provider, said he has never met Tobaly but feels CA's channel program is one of the best in the industry.

"CA does a better job than any other company by offering us support, leads and help driving sales," Hosea said. "We have a dedicated channel manager for all the products across the board. The program has a logical structure, whereas other companies' seem like an unlimited Web of confusion."

Tobaly is a highly charged executive whose discussions about the channel, several of which are archived at www.crnnewsradio.com, were punctuated with a level of excitement that is uncommon in the industry, partners said.

But that passion wasn't enough--Tobaly lacked the focus and direction needed to solve conflict within the enterprise, solution providers said. It didn't help matters that CA executives have stumbled around for years trying to develop a Unicenter program in the enterprise, partners said.

To prevent further carnage, Milford's first line of business should be helping direct sales and account managers understand the role of key channel partners and "to quickly spread the word that this is a good relationship," Barker said.

"I'm happy with what has been going on in CA's storage business, so I don't think I'll have much to worry about in the enterprise space," Barker said. "At least I hope I don't."