A channel veteran who has held executive positions with Sun Microsystems Canada and GE Capital, Luc Villeneuve has made growing the NCR’s indirect channel a priority since he took the helm of the Canadian subsidiary earlier this year.
While best known as a manufacturer of bank machines, automated grocery store check-out machines and other self-service kiosks, NCR sees big things coming around self-service and sees the reseller channel as key to the vendor’s growth plansThe new channel commitment goes higher than Villeneuve. The company hired Tushard Kothari from Cisco Systems to build a global channel program. IBM veteran Juliann Larimer also came on board as North American channel chief, and has been working closely with Villeneuve to grow the Canadian program.
While NCR had a good channel program it wasn’t as friendly as it could have been to partners, said Villeneuve. That’s why NCR is investing in the program and making key changes around programs and incentives. He’s also working to improve communication with and education for partners around some of their partner initiatives.
On the technology front, NCR seems strong opportunities for self-service kiosks to break into dynamic new markets. The vendor has worked with video rental retailer Blockbuster to develop automated video rental kiosks. Villeneuve said digital signage is becoming a big play for NCR, noting the company already has a relationship with Panasonic.