Symantec 2006 Annual Report Download - page 16

believe these changes allow us to be more competitive and better protect our customers in the ever-changing
computing environment.
Enterprise Solutions
We sell and market our products and related services to enterprise customers both directly and through a
variety of indirect sales channels, which include value-added resellers, or VARs, distributors, system
integrators, or SIs, and OEMs. Our enterprise customers include many leading global corporations, small and
medium-sized businesses, and many government agencies around the world. Many of our products involve a
consultative, solution-oriented sales model. Thus, our sales efforts are targeted to senior executives and IT
department personnel who are responsible for managing a company's IT initiatives.
Our primary method of demand generation for enterprise customers is through our direct sales force. We
ended fiscal 2006 with approximately 4,000 individuals in our sales force, approximately half of whom joined
us as a result of the Veritas acquisition. Account managers are responsible for customer relationships and
opportunity management and are supported by product and services specialists. During the June 2006 quarter,
we expect to further integrate the Symantec and Veritas sales forces as we move towards a single account
manager per major account.
We complement our direct sales efforts with indirect sales channels such as resellers, VARs, distributors,
and SIs, primarily to address the small to medium-sized enterprise market. We sell our products through
authorized distributors in more than 40 countries throughout the world. Our top distributors are Ingram
Micro, Inc. and Tech Data Product Management, Inc.
Another important element of our Enterprise Solutions strategy involves our relationships with OEM
partners that incorporate our products into their products, bundle our products with their products, or serve as
authorized resellers of our products.
During fiscal 2006, our enterprise antivirus products experienced increased competition as negotiations
for new and renewal business were consistently aggressive, especially in the small and medium business
market.
Marketing and Advertising
The majority of our marketing dollars is spent on advertising and promotion, which includes demand
generation and brand recognition of our consumer products and enterprise solutions. Our advertising and
promotion efforts include, but are not limited to, electronic and print advertising, trade shows, collateral
production, and all forms of direct marketing. To a lesser extent, we engage in cooperative marketing
campaigns with distributors, resellers, and industry partners.
We continually conduct market research to understand evolving customer needs and buying behaviors.
We also communicate with customers through the Symantec website, regularly scheduled web-based seminars
and online newsletters, as well as through direct mailings, both physical and electronic, to existing end-users
and prospects.
Other marketing activities include the production of brochures, sales tools, multi-media product
demonstrations, packaging, and other collateral as well as participation in focused trade and computer shows,
sponsorship of industry analyst conferences, and execution of Symantec road shows, seminars, and user group
conferences.
We typically offer two types of rebate programs within most countries: volume incentive rebates to
channel partners and promotional rebates to distributors and end-users. Distributors and resellers earn volume
incentive rebates primarily based upon product sales to end-users. We also offer rebates to individual users
that purchase various products through various resale channels.
We regularly offer upgrade rebates to consumers purchasing a new version of a product. Both volume
incentive rebates and end-user rebates are accrued as an offset to revenue.
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