BMC strengthens Australian sales force

According to Simon Price, BMC Asia-Pacific's Marketing vice-president, the company underwent an extensive study of Australia, Singapore, India and China before making a decision.

"Singapore was fairly close but Melbourne came out tops in our 17-point measurement criteria," Price said.

Apart from economic stability and IT infrastructure, Price credits the multi-lingual capability of Australia's second-largest city as a big plus. "The new sales support centre will be manned by 14 Australians who speak a variety of Asian languages including Mandarin, Cantonese, Japanese, Vietnamese, Malay, and Tamil," he added.

Price declined to reveal investment figures but said the centre will help BMC penetrate new and emerging markets such as Vietnam, Indonesia and the Fiji Islands.

Over the next two years, the company expects more than 60 percent -- up from 40 percent -- of Asia-Pacific revenues to originate from indirect channels and the sales support centre will play a crucial role by passing leads to its resellers, he said. BMC has 110 partners in the region, including Planwell Technology and Kinetica in Australia.

Known for its Patrol range of products, BMC opened its first Australian office in Melbourne in 1989. It has since expanded its operations to Canberra, Sydney, Brisbane and Perth. The company has 370 employees in Asia-Pacific, including 120 in Australia and New Zealand.

The company was today commended by the government for investing more than AU$31 million in the Australian ICT industry over the last seven years. Fifty percent of the amount was spent on acquisitions of local firms, Price said. Its customers include 3M Australia, AXA, Monash University, Queensland Investment Corporation, St George Bank and The Salvation Army.