ICL Plc used Windows World to launch its personal systems products in the US. On the software side it is launching a subset of its TeamWorks range. In particular the company is hoping to position TeamWorks Office as a direct competitor to Lotus Notes. Other products it hopes to push are its X400-based electronic mail systems for Windows, and, more peculiarly, it is intent on becoming a big player in the commodity world of local network adaptor boards – from its parent, Fujitsu Ltd. ICL already has a 50-strong North American sales team which mainly sells its personal computer hardware. However for the new effort it is seeking out three types of indirect channel: simple resellers for the adaptor boards and a mixture of systems integrators and US OEM partners for the software side. Mika Enberg, ICL’s TeamWare product marketing manager says ICL began seeking US partners three months ago and hopes to sign the first in three or four months. The biggest problem ICL faces is credibility, Enberg admits: when people think groupware they still think Notes, when they think of ICL they think of mainframes, and often in the US they don’t think of ICL at all. So Comdex launched an ICL visibility campaign.
