Autodesk Draws Up New Blueprint For Channel

Over the past few months, the San Rafael, Calif., software vendor has quietly reorganized its channel organization, distribution practices and partner investments. Much of this momentum can be credited to Steve Blum, who, as vice president of Americas sales for the past 18 months, cast his eye on improving the effectiveness of both Autodesk's internal organization and its channel partners.

One of the first changes he wrought: a two-tiered distribution system. No longer do all VARs buy directly from Autodesk. Since May, more than half of Autodesk's U.S. resellers, which account for about 25 percent of the vendor's revenue, buy Autodesk products from either Ingram Micro or Tech Data.

"The goal was to leverage our internal resources so they can provide world-class support, while taking advantage of the capabilities of our distribution partners to deliver the same kind of support to our indirect VARs," Blum said, adding the purchase-price difference between direct and indirect amounts to a "single-digit delta."

That's not the only change. After analyzing its channel coverage at fiscal year end, in February, the company decided it had too many VARs competing against each other in certain regions. "VARs were leaving margin on the table through competition with one another," Blum said. Autodesk reduced the number of authorized VARs by 25 percent, leaving 128 reseller companies selling out of 235 U.S. locations.

But having fewer reselling companies doesn't necessarily equate to having fewer qualified sales and technical personnel. In fact, Autodesk needs its partners to hire and train more people who can help 2-D-using customers migrate to 3-D products. That's why the vendor has set up a growth fund, from which it will cover half of resellers' first-year costs in adding those skills. "We are looking for return on revenue, not a return on the money," Blum said, "so it's not a loan."

Finally, as part of its effort to promote quality over quantity, Autodesk last month initiated a new Premier Solutions Provider program. Filling the highest tier in the partner spectrum, PSPs must demonstrate stringent levels of industry and technical domain expertise in the areas of civil solutions and mapping, architecture, manufacturing or collaboration.

Qualified PSPs also must show customer successes, which Autodesk will validate, and a certain number of sales and technical staff dedicated to their vertical.

L.A. CAD, Costa Mesa, Calif., is among the first resellers to achieve the PSP ranking for Autodesk's architecture products.

"We are marketing this status for everything it's worth, but it's up to Autodesk to help customers understand its value," said Danny Counts, L.A. CAD's CEO. "It's only been in place a month, but Autodesk has to make this credible."