Onyx seeks resellers for huge channel sales boost

Onyx Software is targeting sales growth by signing boutique resellers and system integrators with either a broad focus or niche vertical specialities and a focus on CRM or business process management.

Geoff Denyer, director of strategic alliances at Onyx, said the vendor was trying to increase its Australian "footprint". The company wanted partners whose approach was broader than just technology.

"We're looking for partners who can help provide the complete solution, who include the technology as really only a part [of it]," he said.

Denyer pointed out that change management, data integration and data consolidation had become increasingly complex for many end-users, making it critical to for vendors to have educated partners to play out that role.

"We are much more focused on automation of the process and business intelligence around it," he said.

Onyx was putting together a team here in Sydney, creating essentially a local version of Onyx' global program. The vendor wanted massive growth in channel sales and software licensing revenue especially, he said.

"We're going to go from basically zero dollars of revenue through the channel. Our goal is quite aggressive and next year our goal is to do half through the channel and half direct," Denyer said.

Last year saw Onyx Australia "not quite" meet its targets. Over the last two years, the market had been relatively flat. But overseas channel sales had performed strongly so the company wanted to bring that success to its Australian division, he suggested.

"I'm putting a team together here that will grow basically as resellers come online. That will mean technical and sales and pre-sales and marketing [people]," he said.

Onyx had already signed channel partners locally, Denyer said, including small boutique Sydney reseller Resonate and global integrator Fujitsu, which had a broad national reach.

"We're looking for another large national partner, a consulting kind of organisation and a number of smaller, boutique organisations," Denyer said.

Amit Bansal, CRM business manager at Fujitsu, said opportunities for Onyx software definitely existed in CRM and business process management. The market was improving, he said.

"This is the reason Fujitsu is [now] building a CRM practice," Bansal said. "From our perspective, [Onyx] competes very well with Siebel."

Onyx had also been able to provide useful marketing assistance, such as good case studies, Bansal said.