BMC pledges broader channel focus

Enterprise vendor BMC Software plans to include a partner in every service management implementation it sells, as it seeks to distance itself from its past reputation as a direct-sales driven operation.

"BMC is pushing more and more of its business out through its partners globally," ANZ managing director Paul Williams said during the opening keynote at the company's BMC Forum event in Melbourne.

"A lot of the big end of town wants to work with the vendor, but we'll always use partners for delivery," said Jason Andrew, Asia-Pacific solutions manager for service management.

"We're not here to build a huge infrastructure around delivering services."

While BMC would still typically take the prime role when dealing with its traditional customer base of large banks and telcos, partners were likely to lead new engagements within the small-to-medium business sector, Andrew said.

Current partners working with the company, according to its local site, include Cerner, Hansen, IBM, Identity Solutions, Kaz, Kinetica, Netforce, Planwell, Priority One Solutions, Red Rock Consulting, Sun and WebCentral.

According to Williams, performance by the local operation over the past year has been "solid". "My bosses are liking the results down here at the moment," he said.

A useful driving factor has been growing interest in ITIL (Information Technology Infrastructure Library) as a means of managing complex infrastructures. "ITIL has really resonated across corporate Australia," said Gartner vice president Bob Hayward.

Disclosure: Angus Kidman travelled to Melbourne as a guest of BMC.