Broadcom Software Group’s president has said that VMWare’s channel has nothing to worry about following his outfit’s $61 billion takeover.
Tom Krause [No really] has said the company is ready to “embrace” the channel having learnt its “value” from previous acquisitions, with the company wanting to “continue to support” it.
Broadcom’s deal with Symantec sparked some concern from the channel after rumours spread that Broadcom wanted to take Symantec’s top 1,500 customers direct, disties also feared Broadcom’s channel strategy after buying Symantec.
Krause said:”We see a very valuable channel, I think there are some things we have learned relative to the CA and Symantec acquisitions in terms of the value of the channel. We want to continue to support that channel. That’s going to allow us to support a lot more revenues in a cost-effective way. So we see a real opportunity to leverage that.”As part of the deal for the company to acquire VMware, the Broadcom Software Group will rebrand and operate as VMware, incorporating Broadcom’s existing infrastructure and security software solutions as part of an expanded VMware portfolio.
Krause said the agreement presents “an opportunity to embrace the channel” as he outlined Broadcom’s strategy for it going forward.
“I think what we are going to be able to do is marry effectively a direct sales force, which covers the largest couple thousand customers, with a very significant channel partner arrangement.
“There’s an opportunity to embrace the channel. The two-tier distribution model, with distribution partners and key, value-added resellers.”
[Embracing the channel is a dangerous business. Trust me. Ed.]
