Case Study: Autodesk Bolsters Its Channel Partner Training
By Paul Harris

Problem: At software giant Autodesk Inc., roughly 80 percent of revenues are generated by independent channel partners. To help those partners more effectively position, sell, and support its solutions, Autodesk needed to dramatically improve the quality of the sales and technical training it offered them.

Solution: It selected training outsourcing supplier Intrepid Learning Solutions to provide a wide range of services. Intrepid is even helping Autodesk implement a new generation of web-based performance support tools that guide channel partners through all aspects of their customer sales process.

Autodesk Inc. is one of the world’s top developers of design software that enable creative genius to flourish. But when it came to excelling at a critical non-core activity of its own--training of its channel partners--the company was admittedly behind the curve. Time to competency for new hires and channel partners was typically nine to 12 months, an unacceptable lag time. One reason was the lack of dedicated and skilled instructional design professionals with expertise in sales training

In 2005, Autodesk partnered with Seattle-based Intrepid to advance the critical knowledge and skills of its customers and partners. Services include learning strategy and analysis, curriculum design and development, electronic performance support, LMS implementation, evaluation, measurement, and reporting. Intrepid works with a variety of Autodesk organizations, including channel readiness, partner technical training, and consulting.

It was the first outsourcing engagement of any sort for Autodesk, which was attracted by the ability to access instructional design and sales training expertise on an as-needed, variable-capacity basis. It could also focus on its core business while Intrepid delivered a holistic approach to its training needs.

Two critical pain points were immediately addressed. Intrepid designed and developed a training program for newly hired channel partners called Manufacturing 101. It also revamped an annual product launch event called Boot Camp to maximize training opportunities.

But an additional pain point also required attention. In order to elevate many channel partners to a higher level of expertise required to become "trusted advisors" to their customers, especially customers seeking to implement Autodesk software within an enterprise implementation, another training solution was needed. Autodesk had a number of high performing subject matter experts who were fully competent to meet those sales and marketing assignments, but an unacceptable gap existed between them and partners who were not.

The answer was an automated tool that could be embedded with the precise information to enable representatives at all levels to meet difficult sales challenges. More than just a training tool, it would be a robust electronic support system that would support channel partners in every aspect of their customer sales process, from conducting the process audit through successful implementation. Autodesk representatives could input certain variables related to specific customer needs and requirements, and receive the answers needed to succeed.

"It’s a ‘decision tree’ that enables channel partners to guide their customers through installation, integration and implementation of Autodesk software in more complicated settings," says Intrepid executive Laura Moraros, client manager. It provides answers to specific upstream questions that often arise on-site before a given piece of software can be installed, she says. Examples: Does the customer require installation of additional hardware? Will the customer’s current naming system work in the new environment? What scalability problems should they anticipate?

Called the Packaged Services Offering (PSO) program, it reflects a true joint effort by the client and its training outsourcing partner, says Beth Chmielowski, Intrepid’s practice leader for the performance support solution. Autodesk built the platform while Intrepid created the accompanying content, she says.

"In creating the tool, the fundamental question was how to scale a service that in the past was provided by a select crew at Autodesk, called Autodesk Consulting," says Chmielowski. "How do they scale that expertise out to the broader audience? It’s a difficult thing to do."

She says meeting those challenges involved a large leap of faith by Autodesk Consulting executives that Intrepid would indeed find a solution. It was a leap they were willing to make because the support tool is seen as crucial to helping Autodesk evolve from a provider of off-the-shelf point product solutions to more complex software, including its own enterprise software solutions. In short, a higher level of expertise is necessary to ensure successful implementations.

Rob Dickins, Autodesk Consulting’s top partner development executive, says the relationship with Intrepid is paying enormous dividends for the software provider. "Working with an external partner is only effective when the partner invests time to understand life from your perspective," he says. "Intrepid has done that." For example, he says, the supplier explores training approaches before its customer has even considered them. "It is willing to take the initiative and own the solution from your perspective," he says.

Dickins says the advantages of the proprietary PSO platform extend well beyond training and basic support. They include increased loyalty of its reseller partners, along with improved visibility among this important constituency.

In addition, Autodesk territory reps can now monitor reseller-customer engagements in progress and offer personal expertise on request as an added sales feature. Also, he says, the numerous data points provided throughout the sales process provide opportunities to measure return on investment (ROI) including time-to-competency, as well as to forecast future channel partner sales and to improve sales support around new product launches.

As the PSO project moves beyond the pilot stage, Autodesk will seek to exploit the platform’s potential for more sophisticated ROI measurements of channel partner sales data, says Dickins. It is also helping the company to monitor opportunities for future software products and reseller services.

For Moraros, the ultimate testimonial for the PSO program comes from one of its most senior experts, who was enlisted to help develop the standardized discovery questions to be embedded in the tool. The exec agreed to "road test" the platform with new hires she was overseeing in the field. It didn’t take long before she became a solid convert. "Not only did the tool help them regain a client who was about to walk, but it also generated a customer proposal that made that client a real convert," says Moraros.

Paul Harris is a freelance writer and frequent contributor to Learning Circuits and T+D Magazine, pharris307@aol.com.