If you read the bullshit that Franco Folini of Novedge posts, VAR’s (Value Added Resellers) are on their way out and his internet software store is the way to go and represents what the future holds. Folini is the same idiot that said that SpaceClaim’s one year expiring license was a good idea. Both think3 and SpaceClaim have failed miserably with this expiring software licensing scam.
To promote his internet software store Folini started something called the Novedge Blog and did “interviews”. The name of the game was to get more traffic that he hoped would then view and purchase software Folini/Novedge sells. The tactic was a failure and Folini has now run out of people to “interview” with his famous “softball” questions so now it’s on to the next marketing scam. His new marketing scam is called “Pulse”. “Pulse” tracks bloggers and gives you a brief overview of what’s new on the blog sites that he decides to track.
Folini won’t be tracking this blog because I’ve let him know how little I think of him and how irresponsible he was because of how he handled what he called a Questions and Answer session as a follow up to the “interview” he did with me. If you have ever posted to leading industry blogs like WorldCAD Access you know it’s moderated and it’s moderated for a damn good reason. Folini decided without my permission to allow unmoderated posts in the guise of questions and answers and then took off for the weekend. Naturally all hell broke lose as I’m not the kind of person to deal lightly with assholes who add no substance and do a lot of lying. Most of these jerks post anonymously using names like Joe788, etc. For sure I gave these assholes a taste of their own tactics and they didn’t like it one bit. Folini then decides to blame me for his massive incompetence in going with an unmoderated format without my permission or even checking with me to see if I wanted to do a Q&A session. Lets be clear, someone like me attracts a large hate club because I cut to the bone and make it obvious with facts on where the problems lie without pulling any punches and this makes lots of people very angry.
I’m not a huge fan of most VAR’s. I think they drive up prices and offer little or nothing for the added fees. Notice I said most and not all. Lets examine what I think a good VAR should be with a specific example:
Surfcam is CAM product that only has one thing going for it… it has high speed toolpaths that are far better than 95% of its competition. Other than this it trails the market very badly. Despite this Surfcam is the number two CAM product in the San Diego, California market. How can this be? Simple, really. Surfcam’s VAR in San Diego, California is Performance CADCAM which is owned and run by Kevin Cunningham.
http://www.performancecadcam.com/
Here is a list of some of Kevin Cunningham/Performance CADCAM’s customers:
http://www.performancecadcam.com/clients.htm
Most of his customers I have spoken with are very happy! Why? Because Kevin Cunningham knows how to support manufacturing and has the background as a CNC Machinist and CNC Programmer. Further Performance CADCAM/Kevin Cunningham offers many training options they even offer affordable training for CNC machinists and programmers who have to pay for training out of their own pocket. $250 gets you a CD jam-packed with how to make best use of Surfcam’s 2D milling and I mean jam-packed!
http://www.performancecadcam.com/cam2training.htm
Now think about this for a minute. If you purchased a CAM product from Franco Folini’s Novedge what kind of support do you think you would get from a man who has zero understanding of machining and zero training in CAM programming?
Performance CADCAM/Kevin Cunningham is what a VAR should be! The FACT is he’s so good he can keep his customers very happy with a product that is marginal and dated in many ways. I wish San Diego CADCAM would offer affordable video training for Mastercam like Performance CADCAM/Kevin Cunningham offers for Surfcam.
If CADCAM companies wish to get rid of their VAR’s and sell direct, major changes will have to take place such as writing high quality complete help manuals and creating great instructional videos of how to best use their product. In addition, Bobcad type boiler room telemarketing will be needed. It’s a dirty and expensive job and so far CADCAM companies would rather pass this job on to their VAR’s rather than do what needs to be done to sell direct and be successful
