SaaS Solution Does for Channel Sales What Cloud CRM Solutions Do for Direct Sales

Channelinsight, a leading provider of cloud-based channel management solutions, today announces the availability of the market's first and only channel sales management suite in the cloud. The Channelinsight application suite enables companies like Fairchild Semiconductor, nVidia, Brocade, Enterasys Networks and Data Robotics to effectively increase channel sales, optimize channel inventory, maximize return on incentive programs and meet compliance requirements.

"Channel sales are unique in that there are multiple people and processes involved and thus, accurate and current information is not as readily available as it is with direct sales," said Tiffani Bova, vice president, Gartner Research. "This can lead to money being left on the table. The industry needs a solution that helps those in sales channel strategy planning understand the fundamentals from both internal and external points of view. Excelling in sales channel innovation is a long-term competitive advantage."

Channel sales bring a set of challenges that those in direct sales don't face. Poor sales tracking can lead to sales reps spending up to 20 percent of their time tracking sales instead of selling, while the cost burden of excess channel inventory can claim up to 10 percent of revenue. Overpaying channel incentives and commissions and grey market activities further erode margins. To provide necessary visibility into channel sales and inventory data, Channelinsight tracks every partner and every end-customer in each transaction.

Combining the company's proven platform with a new, integrated Channel Management application suite provides channel sales teams with faster and more accurate channel sales data. The Channelinsight platform collects and standardizes channel POS and inventory data, while the application suite provides actionable dashboards, drill down reports and self service application workbenches. The solution can be leveraged through Salesforce.com, CRM software or on standalone basis. The company also works with top systems integrators Accenture, PWC, KPMG and Infosys.

"Our home-grown solution just wasn't yielding the fast, transparent information flow necessary to capitalize on our channel revenue. We needed to more effectively address business critical functions like managing inventory and point-of-sale data in real-time," said Dan Petlon, CIO, Enterasys. "Channelinsight is the only vendor to offer an enterprise solution to an enterprise problem. Leveraging its full suite of products to align processes, drive down costs and manage our channel relationships gives us a significant competitive advantage."

The new applications -- which leverage the Channelinsight cloud platform and partner network -- include:

• Channelinsight Sales Manager provides standardized, enhanced and actionable channel sales data by region, product, partner and end-customer. With this data vendors can identify and cultivate new partners and end-customers.
• Channelinsight Inventory Manager enables vendors to see at a glance whether they are tracking to inventory targets, optimizing inventory levels and minimizing exposure to price changes.
• Channelinsight Discount Manager enables vendors to increase profitability and track the effectiveness of special price quotes and discounted price agreements. They can also identify which special pricing agreements are actually driving sales, by analyzing discount trends by partner.
• Channelinsight Compliance Manager minimizes potential risks by tracking sales data, identifying potential agreement and compliance violations, and providing the ability to follow the serial number all the way through to the end-customer.
• Channelinsight Incentive Manager provides real-time, actionable data about the effectiveness of your channel incentive programs in an easy-to-read dashboard with drill-down reports and a self-service workbench.

"Companies have consistently struggled with manual efforts, complex spreadsheets, custom tools and integration nightmares trying to make channel sales as productive as direct sales," said Mark Geene, CEO of Channelinsight. "Our new applications accelerate and simplify the delivery of accurate data from our proven platform. By offering the industry the first channel sales management solution in the cloud, our clients can't stop guessing and produce world class results."

About Channelinsight
Channelinsight offers the only complete channel sales management solution in the cloud, providing technology manufacturers with visibility into every partner and every end-customer in every transaction in real-time and allowing them to gain the insight necessary to drive sales and optimize inventory. The company processes over 120 million POS and inventory transactions per year. Channelinsight is privately held and backed by Rho Ventures, Sevin Rosen Funds, Sequel Venture Partners and Vendanta Capital with headquarters in Denver. For more information visit: www.Channelinsight.com.