By Simon Quicke

18 July 2008

In a rather predictable but understandable move Sophos has reacted to the unrest caused by reports of a change in strategy at Symantec by calling on resellers to shift allegiance.

Earlier this week reports from the US indicated that at an analyst conference held by Symantec COO Enrique Salem he said it was changing its direct and indirect balance to save costs because it no longer saw the value in paying distribution and resellers to service a customer quite happy to go direct.

Salem is reported to have told the analysts that it had a direct touch team that was heavily involved with customers and it would now give around 900 of its largest global customers the option to buy direct.

In response to that Andrew Bradshaw, vice president of Sophos UK, put itself in the shop window for resellers to choose as an alternative supplier.

"To run a successful channel, you need to be committed to your partners' success, working with them to provide the best service to the customer – not alienating, or worse, eliminating the partner who's put in the work, once the deal has been signed," he said.