AVG says rejig will end channel conflict
Anti-virus vendor says run-ins between its channel and direct sales bods will not be possible under new structure

Anti-virus vendor AVG has completed a reorganisation it claims will eliminate any conflict between its reseller and direct sales channels.
The vendor, which floated on the New York Stock Exchange in February, has reorganised its business into two distinct units, each with their own marketing and support functions: consumer and SMB. It was previously divided into online and channel units.
Overlaps created by the rejig resulted in a number of redundancies amounting to a "low single-digit" percentage of AVG's 900-strong global workforce, Peter Baxter, vice president of SMB sales EMEA and ROW confirmed. Baxter's predecessor, Chris McManus, is among those to have moved on.
Baxter told ChannelWeb: "We have had more than 21 years of fantastic growth and had an opportunity to take a step back and streamline the business."
The SMB arm will combine AVG's channel partners and relevant online sales activities under one roof.
Baxter said this would spell more leads for its resellers and put an end to the occasional infighting between its channel and direct sales bods.
"At least a couple of times a year there would be disparity between online and channel pricing and we know the channel are very sensitive to pricing that is seen by end users," he said. "It will not happen under the new regime. With it being under our control, we can sit there and govern that."
Baxter said the plan is to begin feeding SMB leads generated through AVG.com to its resellers.
"That is going to be a major part of our strategy and later this year and early next year we will identify the resellers that qualify for receiving these leads," he said. "We will always take an order online – like all other vendors – but we are going to drive as much