Bellevue, Washington-based Attachmate Corp is getting ready to take on the European market. The 3270 micro-to-mainframe link company is moving in on Northern Europe via the UK and although it has had a base here for a year, its only now having its coming out party as general manager Graham Jones puts it. Attachmate claims 35% of the US 3270 software market, the nearest runner to IBM’s 50%, and Jones is hoping that the success can be repeated in the UK and the rest of Europe. The strategy is relatively simple – direct sales to corporate customers and free direct support. The support includes a freephone number for advice over the phone and on-site help from engineers. The UK office, based in Wokingham, Berkshire has a department of around 10 technical staff to serve Northern Europe as well as the UK. The French office is the support centre for Southern Europe while Germany, which at the moment makes up most of Attachmate’s European revenue, looks after Central Europe. At the moment Europe makes up around 20% of Attachmate’s $78m annual turnover and the UK contributes 5% to that, half as much as its German counterpart. But Jones believes that in around three years it could overtake its main UK rival, Digital Communications Associates Inc for market share – especially as Computer Marketing Plc just went into administration (CI No 1,710). He stresses that Attachmate is the largest 3270 vendor completely focused on that market. The company has just launched an upgrade to its Windows-based personal computer to mainframe connectivity system, Extra! which features editable macros and multi-tasking.
