CA is encouraging its channel partners to capitalise on a $10bn opportunity with the launch of its dedicated mid-market division.

The vendor has claimed there are 66,000 potential customers with between 500 and 5,000 employees worldwide and is fulfilling this market segment solely through the channel.

Bob Davis, senior vice president and general manager of CA's mid-market and storage business unit, said: "There will be no direct sales in the mid-market. This is a partner dedicated part of the business. The expectations of these end-user customers are the same as enterprises but they expect them to be delivered in a different way."

The vendor also launched its Recovery Management software, which is the first of a 16-strong stable of products tailored to the mid-market.

Bill Lipsin, senior vice president worldwide channel sales at CA, added: " Partners are not seeing just words about our priorities, this is a commitment to channel based resources to help them be more successful.

"The key is to prioritise and identify how we are going to market. This is not a short term strategy," he said.

Todd Pekats, director strategic alliances at CA partner CompuCom Systems, welcomed the mid-market focus.

"Our primary goal is to reduce the cost and complexity of IT. The vision of CA has always been great, but up until recently all of their different products generally created complexity and that creates cost.

"Mid-market customers are very important to our business and our growth. We see this as the great start of a new future with CA."

Further Reading:

Swainson snubs channel in CA World keynote