Symantec's Seelinger Makes Impression

Editor's Note: This November, CRN will publish its third annual ranking of the most effective--and controversial--Channel Chiefs. As an ongoing component of that coverage, we've inaugurated a monthly spotlight featuring the channel executive who had the most impact in terms of programs or other activities during the previous month. This selection will be made each month by the editorial cabinet.

The CRN editorial team selected a slate of candidates for July activities, including Mike Borman, IBM's outgoing global channel chief; Taylor Macdonald, senior vice president of business partners at Best Software; and Allyson Seelinger, who just took on a worldwide channel role at Symantec.

The cabinet said they didn't know Macdonald or his programs well enough to select him for the July spotlight. And although Borman received kudos for his plan to retrain laid-off IBM employees to join IBM Business Partners, Seelinger was the hands-down selection for July.

In choosing Seelinger as channel executive of the month, the cabinet cited both her consistent presence over time as well as the company's decision in May to restructure its channel program on the basis of customer segment. Part of that overhaul was a vendor lead program that actually seems to work, according to Brian Okun, director of marketing and sales at Chips Computer Consulting, an editorial cabinet member in Lake Success, N.Y.

"Our six-month trial of Symantec's Partner Leads [before it went live] resulted in close to 400 leads, 20 new clients and about 30 continuing opportunities," Okun said.

Also beneficial was Symantec's decision to support vendor-neutral security certifications, he added.

Peter Busam, COO of Decisive Business Systems, Pennsauken, N.J., is taking a wait-and-see approach on the program changes. Still, he has noticed more aggressive support from the vendor in the field.

"As of late, we have found that Symantec is becoming more aggressive in our market [Philadelphia] with more than just their antivirus product," Busam said. "This new strategy should help companies like ours to be the benefactor of additional lines based upon our base vs. our OEM cert. Additionally, we now have better guidance on where we can play and where we can't. This reduces conflict, as we are not competing directly for certain business and can allocate our resources, partner funding or other resources for us to get the best traction."

Alvaka Networks President Oli Thordarson, who actually voted for IBM's Borman when he weighed in from Huntington Beach, Calif., said his main criticism of Symantec's program is that it doesn't take risks.

"Allyson is great. Who does not love her?" Thordarson said. "So on a historical performance basis, I would have to rate her very highly. But her program is the most conventional, least risky/edgy and may not have the big unique payoff of Borman's."

Weigh in with your own comments by sending e-mail to [email protected]. And feel free to suggest candidates for the next monthly spotlight, which is slated to be published in early September.