Citing her strong experience in business/finance and a successful 13-year career in channel-focused software technology implementation and sales, ACOM Solutions announced it has named Catherine Bedrossian as its new channel sales manager.
In her new position, Bedrossian will head the company's expanded initiative into the value-added reseller community. Plans call for establishing at least 40 new reseller partners within 12 months and as many as 200 by the end of three years. The initiative is being supported by partner relationship broker, Foster MacCallum International.
"Catherine has the training and background to relate to people at all levels of responsibility, from the line staff and end users who define business need to the C-level executives who are concerned with ROI and who ultimately must sign off on projects," said James R. Scott, ACOM senior vice president. "She possesses the energy to drive our channel program forward vigorously, the experience to qualify applicants judiciously, and the managerial expertise to engage them productively on an ongoing basis. We are very pleased to have her on board," Scott said.
Immediately prior to joining ACOM, Bedrossian was the West Coast sales account manager for Pennsylvania-based Optical Image Technology. She was responsible for growing and directing all solution sales activity in her territory. Among her achievements was the development of a strategy for VAR-recruitment.
Among her technology sales positions, Bedrossian was regional software sales manager at Laserfiche, where her responsibilities also included VAR channel recruitment, training, lead development and distribution; and senior regional software sale manager at Liberty IMS, responsible for directing and executing all business development and sales efforts in Los Angeles and Texas both for direct and channel sales.
"As more mid-size companies are looking to squeeze their budgets, business process automation is an area in which they are investing because of its significant measurable positive effect on the bottom line," said Bedrossian. "With thousands of VAR's trying to reach executives within finance departments, we plan to show about 200 of them a path to success with ACOM's unique field-proven solutions and our great "Jump Start" program," she said.
"ACOM's solutions have addressed the pain at over 4,000 finance departments where paper intensive processes were a concern. The ACOM solutions can be integrated easily into virtually any business scenario to streamline payment and document output, management, storage, and distribution. We offer VAR's a compelling mix of new revenue opportunities, a trusted brand image, market leadership, and award-winning support," she said.
Early in her career, Bedrossian directed financial operations as a member of the management team at a community service organization. She then became managing partner of a successful restaurant operation. She studied electrical engineering at the University of Southern California and business accounting at UCLA, respectively, and she has participated in numerous industry educational programs. She is active in her local A IIM chapter, serving on the board of directors.
ACOM Solutions announced earlier this month that it had embarked on an extended channel reseller partnership program. It said then that to help execute the program it has retained the services of the international partner relationship broker, Foster MacCallum International. Initial focus is on the United States and Canada with other markets to follow.
"The new channels program follows a single-level model," said Scott. "It is a high-value model that will entail a limited number of partner relationships while offering superior support and a broad selection of resources, including Web facilities and direct access to channel management and staff in our corporate office."
The company expects to sign 40 partners in the first year of the program and to expand it to 200 by the end of the third year. Current ACOM partners will have the option to remain in their current relationships or to become members of the new program.
According to Scott, ACOM's decision to expand its cadre of resellers stemmed from its assessment of the increasingly significant value that resellers add in serving the needs of corporate and institutional clients. This is particularly true in the case of mid-size enterprises, perceived by ACOM as those with annual revenues above $200 million but below $1 billion.
"We determined that the rich and unique product mix that ACOM now offers integrates extremely well with the reseller community serving this market, and the Foster MacCallum analyses supported this view," Scott said.
"This product mix spans the requirements of the back office and includes solutions for document output, payments, content management, and B2B e-commerce, each with an array of options in addition to the base platforms. It helps resellers to build and offer a more complete and profitable portfolio, and it also serves to strengthen their competitive positions by reducing their clients' sourcing requirements.
"Notably, we support both the IBM System i and the Microsoft Windows environments and our products are broadly compatible with all operating systems as well as all business/financial/ERP software," he said.
ACOM is considering three types of resellers as potential partners:
- Financial VARs--vendors of financial applications looking to expand their businesses. ACOM contributes solutions, service and functional expertise
- System i resellers--with most of these firms already selling accounting, ERP and similar packages, ACOM contributes value through its multi-modular document and payment solutions and auxiliary options such as positive pay and electronic content management
- VARs already selling document/payment management solutions that are looking for more comprehensive solutions packages, better support, and a more channel-friendly partner
"We've worked with many leading B2B software companies to develop and recruit their partner channels, including some of the very largest," said George Dziedzic, CEO of Foster MacCallum, whose firm was retained by ACOM to help recruit the new partners. "We have been impressed with ACOM's partner value proposition and their exceptional commitment to their customers and industry partners. The company represents an excellent fit for high-end resellers and we expect many valuable business partnerships to emerge through this initiative."
Added Scott: "In preparing to go to the channel, we endeavored to structure the most sweeping, feature-rich program available to resellers and we engaged the best to help us. All of the elements are in place and we are now selecting and signing the first members of the new program."
About Foster MacCallum International
Foster MacCallum International has been enabling IT and Communication Suppliers, their Channel Partners, and the Investment community to build and manage productive business to business relationships since 2003. Foster MacCallum's objective recruiting methodology, combined with its SCORE Web Portal, (containing over 100,000 profiles of companies around the world), provides the basis on which quality Channel Partners can be identified and matched quickly and cost effectively. Foster MacCallum's experience and understanding of the Channel, Channel partners, and the needs of Vendors such as IBM, SAP, Apple VMware, Oracle, Hyperion, BMC and Progress are all applied to ensure successful delivery of Channel development projects.
For more information: call: +44 (0)1256 825830 , email
About ACOM Solutions, Inc.
For over 25 years ACOM has been automating document and payment processes for more than 4,000 organizations, across all industries. ACOM develops solutions that are best suited for tactical deployments in the accounting/financial departments of mid-size organizations. ACOM's solutions integrate seamlessly with any financial/ERP system to extend that system's capabilities; they dramatically improve an organization's efficiency by automating their previously manual processes; and they significantly decrease an organization's costs. Likewise, by incorporating ACOM's solutions into their product offerings, ACOM's partners can bring an additional set of powerful, valuable enhancements to their customers. Corporate headquarters are in Long Beach, California; System i Software Division headquarters are in Duluth, Georgia; and regional offices are located in several major U.S. cities. For more information about ACOM's Channel Partner Program, call 800-347-3638 ext. 4306, or email www.acom.com/VAR_partners.
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