What is the roll of solidworks resellers. From my point of view they are just selling the software & just by selling & renewing the software they are earning a lot.
Can't solidworks be more interactive with their customers?
Main issue is the fruitful communication. Giving more & more ways to use solidworks to next level is necessary.
Otherwise we are just wasting our money on subscription.
I think you might be asking why SolidWorks doesn't just perform all of the VAR services themselves and cut out the middle man. I think the main reason is that they don't have the manpower. VARs area located all over the world and have more personal relationships with the users, and they should be able to answer questions and provide support all the time. If SolidWorks were going to try to provide real-time support for every user they would need to hire so many people they would essentially have as many employees as the VARs have combined. Anyway, that isn't where SW wants to focus its resources.
Think of it like manufacturers and distributors for physical goods. You might think "Why can't I buy my TV directly from Samsung and get it cheaper without Target taking a cut?" It's because Samsung doesn't have the infrastructure to sell to individuals, or they just don't want to bother.
Jamil Snead wrote:
Think of it like manufacturers and distributors for physical goods. You might think "Why can't I buy my TV directly from Samsung and get it cheaper without Target taking a cut?" It's because Samsung doesn't have the infrastructure to sell to individuals, or they just don't want to bother.
I never thought of it that way, but it's a good point.
Its like present war between online & offline sales of consumer goods like amazon, flipkart & so many other players against local resellers.
Online portals for this things offer very good price by cutting this third channel & for service generally they are having service engineers in each locations.
So no need of sales. Only then need to focus on service. And for service definitely local reseller can play a big role.
In addition it may not be easy to handle that much big infrastructure or manpower.
Exactly we need to think like manufacturer & distributor of physical goods. Now a days online portals are giving hefty of discount & price is transparent to all.
Do anybody know at which price not only solidworks, but all the engineering softwares sold. I challenge that none of the two price of this softwares sell will match.
If its online, everyone can see it. & competition between this companies will bring down more the pricing.
My simple funda is sell online, service offline.
It's not easy to keep the price same every where because of taxes and other duties.
Keyur,
If you have a really good VAR, I suspect you would not be asking this question. I deal with 2 VARS professionally at my full time and part time job. I also deal with 2 others as a SWUG Leader. I can tell you that my full time VAR is by far the best of the 4. My part time VAR is the worst. Any time I have an issue, my full time VAR always answers my email within 8 hours and usually has an answer in that time. I have had several emails from my part time VAR go unanswered. In their defense, my part time employer is located in my full time VAR's service area, so there isn't a lot of money involved and it is a university, so the main campus is getting a discount and not in my area (I work for a satelite campus). From the SWUGL side, I have two VARs, my full time VAR and one that has little business in my area that I can call on at anytime and get a presentation from them. They put the VALUE ADDED in VAR.
I would suggest that you contact your VAR and tell them that you are dissatisfied and are considering another VAR, if that is an option. I know that in Central America, there is one VAR for 4-5 countries. I don't know your situation though.
Best Regards
Although I am sure the company I work for would certainly not complain about paying as much for SW Subscriptions, they have not complained. Subscription gives benefits in several ways. Most important, you get the latest version each year included as part of the yearly fee. Almost as important, you get an insurance plan (sort of) by having employees of the VAR available to both help with problems, answer questions and sometimes provide suggestions to tackle situations.
You are correct that if the VAR cannot or is unwilling to help, they are not fulfilling their purpose. In that case, transfer to another VAR that will.
On the other hand, if a SW user has a problem and does not request the help, the VAR is not to blame.
I have been very pleased with my VAR for 16 years. I am not sure that my questions would have been answered any quicker or better if I had to contact SW directly thru a central support department.