ATI Technologies Inc. is playing its cards right.
June 21, 1999, Issue: 847
Section: Channel Champions -- Components
ATI Plays Its Cards Right
Stephanie Green
ATI Technologies Inc. is playing its cards right.
Among graphics cards vendors, ATI proved to have the most satisfied resellers in
seven of the eight areas covered in the annual CRN Channel Champions survey.
As a result, ATI, Thornhill, Ontario, won the highest overall satisfaction score, 5.7 out
of a possible 7 points, and earned the Channel Champions title in graphics cards.
ATI handily beat Matrox Electronics Systems Ltd., Dorval, Quebec, Diamond
Multimedia Systems Inc., San Jose, Calif., and Creative Labs Inc., a subsidiary of
Creative Technology Ltd., Singapore, which all scored a 5.4 in a three-way tie for second
place. Trident Microsystems Inc., Mountain View, Calif., trailed with a rating of 5.2.
ATI offers "very good quality, very good reliability, and the price is right. They have
great support service, you can upgrade it to some extent, and the product stays current
with technology," said Doug Anderson, owner of Service Electronics Corp., Verona,
Wis.
ATI faced close competition in all areas, except one. The vendor earned a wide margin of
victory in response time, where it clobbered its competitors with a satisfaction rating of
5.7. In this critical area, Matrox trailed with a 5.3, Diamond with a 5.1, and Creative Labs
and Trident, each with a 5.0.
Ed Grondahl, vice president of marketing for ATI, said one reason for the company's
strong showing here is that ATI works hard to support all its resellers, from the largest
to the smallest.
For systems builders, the company provides multipack packaging, volume discount
pricing, direct RMA, and overnight exchange and marketing support, Grondahl said.
The company also offers sales and marketing training for resellers through ATI
University, which uses the Internet to provide sales training and technical information.
ATI employs 50 people to provide pre- and post-sale support to resellers, and its
technical support extends to the resellers' customers, Grondahl said. The company
keeps resellers informed on how it has resolved issues with clients.
"We have a dedicated technical support team for the reseller community," he said. "Our
people are available on the fly or to travel to get the assistance for them."
The company also offers an E-mail address for answering technical questions. "We take
it very seriously. And we do have over 50 people sitting on the phones, and when they
are not on the phones, they are answering E-mail," Grondahl said.
Resellers agreed that ATI is responsive to their needs. "[ATI's] customer service has
been good to me," said Gary Reeves, a technician with Computer Center, Wadena,
Minn. "If I go into their support page and ask a question about an ATI problem, I'm
finding they'll give me an answer by E-mail within an hour. That's quick."
Resellers also like ATI's Web site and the fact that they can easily access drivers. "I do
not have trouble going onto the Net and getting an ATI driver," Reeves said. "It's just
the way their pages are set up."
In other areas, ATI's performance was less decisive. ATI outscored its closest
competitor by one-tenth of a point in four areas: product quality and reliability,
price/performance, technical support and co-op marketing.
Resellers attributed ATI's top ratings in the product areas to the quality of its device
drivers.
"Without a good driver, a good card is a piece of junk, and that's really what makes or
breaks a card," said Jim Kreher, president of JK Computer Solutions, Mt. Vernon, Ill.
Eric Kurtz, president of Efland, Kurtz Integration, Efland, N.C., said driver support from
board and chipset manufacturers is the most critical issue he considers when selecting a
graphics board vendor.
Kurtz, who deals primarily with the business market and sells several thousand thin
clients a year, also said speed and performance are less important than compatibility
with software.
"As far as the crowd we sell to, I don't care what is the fastest performing on games-the
criteria most of these test labs seem to be [using]," Kurtz said.
Kreher said a card's speed is somewhat important because it helps push sales, but he
likewise said performance is not as important as compatibility and reliability.
"For most of us in the business end, it's not the performance of the card, it's the
reliability of the card and how many problems the card gives you," Kreher said.
ATI and Creative Labs tied for first place in the area of upgradability and compatibility
with a score of 5.8, well above runner-up Matrox's 5.4.
Resellers gave top scores to all vendors for product availability, creating a three-way tie
of 6.1 for ATI, Diamond and Trident.
Resellers said product availability has not been a problem for any of the graphics card
vendors. "For standard products that have been shipping for at least a year, the
availability [at ATI] is very good," Anderson said. "If it is a relatively new item, then
there is a lag."
ATI took a backseat to Matrox in one area, return policies, where Matrox's 5.6 was a
notch ahead of ATI's second-place finish of 5.5.
Several resellers, however, said returns have not been a problem with the company. "We
send something in [to ATI], and they are repaired or replaced on a timely basis,"
Anderson said. "Typically, the worst case is about two weeks."
Edward Brown of Micro Daze Inc., Jeffersonville, Ind., said he returned an ATI card only
once in the past 12 years and had no problems. "They actually sent the replacement
before I got the other one mailed out," he said.
1999 Champion
Manufacturer: ATI Technologies Inc.
Headquarters: Thornhill, Ont.
Popular Product: Rage Fury
Key Strengths: Response time; quality and reliability
Rank Last Year: First
Reseller Comment: "[ATI's] customer service has been good to me. If I go into their
support page and ask a question about an ATI problem, I'm finding they'll get me an
answer by E-mail within an hour. that's quick," says Gary Reeves of Computer Center,
Wadena, Minn.
Copyright ® 1999 CMP Media Inc. |
