Quantum Overcomes Product Content Dissemination Challenge with CNET Channel PartnerAccess™ Program

When Quantum, the world’s leading manufacturer of reliable backup, recovery, and archive solutions, says it is a strong channel company, it doesn’t just pay lip service to the phrase. Each and every one of Quantum’s 759 tape media, tape drive, tape automation, and disk-based backup SKUs is sold through the channel; the company rarely sells products directly to the end-user.

An important part of Quantum’s channel mix is direct marketers, companies like CDW, Insight, PC Connection, PC Mall, and Zones, that have transformed their businesses from direct-mail catalogs to web-based portals that sell everything from digital cameras to printers to Quantum’s high-end tape automation and disk-based backup products. According to Rebecca Gonzalez, Quantum’s North America Customer Marketing Director, these direct marketers present a bit of a challenge for the company. “Because each direct marketer has its own unique system and way of displaying information to the customer, the biggest challenge we have when supporting the direct marketers is staying up to date on the product line and how it is shown to the end-users.”

Inconsistent Content Distribution Process Adds to Quantum's Challenge of Controlling How Products are Marketed in the Channel

With the purchase of Certance in January 2005, the direct marketer — while always an important part of the company’s channel model — has recently become even more important than ever for Quantum. “Quantum is expanding our market reach from the small-to-medium-sized businesses up to the enterprise that we have typically served, down into the SOHO market with this acquisition,” said Gonzalez. “Direct marketers account for a large percentage of the Certance product revenue, and they have a big Web presence. Our products were represented on these Web sites very inconsistently. As a manufacturer, we can’t possibly stay on top of all the changes.”

Before turning to CNET Channel’s PartnerAccess program, Quantum relied on manual product data collection and distribution processes. Using the company’s sales tools intranet site, Gonzalez and her colleagues pushed content out on an ad hoc basis, mostly via email, to the handful of largest accounts with whom they had direct relationships. “Once a week, we received an alert that new content had been posted on the site, content like detailed SKU information, price information, product specifications. Then, each of us picked through the information we wanted or needed to push out to our largest partners."..This manual, inconsistent process certainly didn’t help solve the challenge of controlling how the company’s products were marketed through the channel, and it came to a head with Quantum’s introduction of its M-Series LTO-3 tape library. “We came out with this product that everybody wanted, and we found out — thanks to CNET Channel — that there were a number of direct marketers who wanted to sell the product, but because we didn’t have a direct way to update our partners’ Web sites, they didn’t have the complete product information they needed to represent the product,” said Gonzalez. “If this product is not on those Web sites, we can forget about trying to sell it. It is totally revenue impacting.”

Through Quantum’s CNET Channel PartnerAccess subscription, Gonzalez was not only able to see which direct marketers were asking for the SKU, but also to provide CNET Channel the product information required to change the status of the SKU from ‘on hold’ to ‘active’. “Until now, I didn’t realize that I had this information at my fingertips with CNET Channel,” said Gonzalez. “Here we were, first-to-market with the latest drive technology in tape automation, and the SKU wasn’t on some of the most important, highest revenue-generating Web sites. But PartnerAccess made it simple — and quick — to fix.”

Going forward, Gonzalez expects to use PartnerAccess to set up SKUs for all direct marketers to pull from CNET Channel, saving time, improving data accuracy and consistency, and helping increase revenue. “Aside from the significant time savings, we expect new SKUs to be available much faster, with more sales-oriented information that will help end-users make better informed purchase decisions,” said Gonzalez. “With PartnerAccess, we will be able to control exactly how we want our products presented to our target audience. Because we know what they are looking for, we are better qualified to determine what should be posted there. PartnerAccess gives us that power.”