Thursday, July 10, 2008

Independence = Integrity

News is coming through from Sydney that a local APAC "integration/third party provider/reseller" is about to announce their partnership with the latest law firm software package on the market. Not really worth a posting here, however there is already some annoyance bubbling from the market in relation to this news - terms such as "jumping horses midstream", "selling your grandmother", and "so how long will they keep this one for" are circulating.

Although the sales teams and marketing engines will be going into overtime with press releases, breakfast briefings, client case studies from firms that few have heard of, our advice to firms within the top tier of the APAC region remains as it has been for many years - go direct to the international senior sales team/corporate management of the software company themselves, and subsequently negotiate and make your purchase via them, and without a reseller...

You're brands are big enough to take this approach, the size of the firm's investment in the application certainly warrants it, the risks of not doing so are many (as are the potential benefits which are opened up)...and typically, the reseller adds little value with the exception of being able to provide a local salesman to take you to lunch before the deal, drinks when you sign the deal, and vanish after the implementation (possibly to look for the next product out there that will replace the one you've just bought).

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