Salesforce.com is the industry pioneer in sales force automation (SFA) and customer relationship management (CRM). Computer Market Research is the leader in collecting and scrubbing sales data from channel partners and providing Web-hosted channel management software applications. Both companies use software-as-a-service (SaaS) models as a more efficient and cost effective alternative to software installed on the customer’s local computer system.

“The Salesforce.com platform is ideal for integrating our POS data seamlessly into a company’s SFA and CRM systems,” said Del Heles, president of CMR. “The AppExchange partnership between CMR and SalesForce.com is a symbiotic relationship that benefits both companies and our mutual customers. More importantly, our users gain tremendous cost savings and time management benefits from being able to access customer relationship information and channel sales data from the same screen.”

SalesForce.com users now have access to two-tier POS data from designated tabs on the Salesforce.com portal without the expense and effort of setting up hardware and supporting software. SalesForce.com’s AppExchange technology enables external developers like CMR to create and share on-demand applications within the Salesforce.com ecosystem.

Using integrated screens within Salesforce.com, CMR customers are now able to:

• Generate a variety of POS reports including data verification reports, reporting partner reports, reseller reports, product reports, and custom reports.
• Employ a POS analysis tool to display multidimensional OLAP cubes, for example, to show sales by time frame, product, reseller or distributor.
• Gain secure, 24x7 online access to specific POS information relating to customer accounts, such as how much a customer bought for a given time period, which distributors the reseller bought from and which products the reseller sold.

About Salesforce.com

Salesforce.com is the market and technology leader in on-demand business services. The company's Salesforce suite of on-demand applications enables customers to manage and share all of their sales, support, marketing and partner information on-demand. AppExchange, salesforce.com's on-demand platform, allows customers and partners to build powerful new applications quickly and easily, customize and integrate the Salesforce suite to meet their unique business needs. Customers can also take advantage of Successforce, salesforce.com's world-class training, support, consulting and best practices offerings.

About CMR

For more than 20 years, CMR has delivered cost effective, technology-based applications and services to manufacturers to assist them in managing channel data, optimize their trade promotion investments and maximize the effectiveness of their distribution channels. CMR’s Web-based solutions accelerate and automate distributor and reseller data collection, processing, analysis and reporting. CMR’s newest clients include Buffalo Technology, D-Link, LSI Corporation, and Targus. More information is available from the CMR customer support line at (858) 279-6668, or can be viewed at www.computermarketresearch.com

CMR Special Pricing Authorization, CMR and the CMR logo are trademarks of Computer Market Research, LTD. All other trademarks used herein are the property of their respective owners.

This new solution from CMR helps manufacturers win more competitive opportunities, increase market share and monitor the effectiveness of their pricing strategies by automating, managing, tracking and analyzing special pricing requests from resellers, distributors and field representatives.

“Special pricing requests, authorizations and tracking are critical elements of our sales and marketing processes,” said Rick Flores, Distribution Sales Manager for LSI Corporation (NYSE: LSI), Milpitas, CA. “A strategic percentage of all major purchases in our distribution business involves special pricing requests. The CMR Special Pricing Request solution is a major tool used by our distribution sales organization, and the support that we get from the CMR development team is outstanding.”

Special pricing consideration is traditionally granted to manufacturers’ most loyal and strategically important channel partners and customers who need to reduce their overall bills of materials. Special pricing strategies are also used to meet competition, move finished inventory from warehouses and expand a vendor’s market share.

“Our goal in designing the CMR Special Pricing Authorization application was to fully automate a critical channel management process that has historically been slow, inefficient and unresponsive to customer needs,” explained Del Heles, president of CMR. “Vendors can now achieve easier and faster turnaround of special pricing requests to enable their distributor sales teams to better serve their customers and empower their channel partners to close more deals and produce higher revenues.”

This new service from CMR also helps manufacturers identify and solve product pricing and market education issues. Marketing management receives regular feedback from channel partners in the form of better-documented special pricing requests and justifications from sales people. If an unusual number of requests are received, this may indicate that a product is overpriced for the market or that an upgraded product is being promoted by a competitor. It may also show that more detailed product information is needed in the market or that sales people require more thorough training.

The key benefits of CMR’s Special Pricing Authorization Web-hosted application include:

• The entire process of special pricing requests, authorizations, claims and financial tracking is fully automated.
• All special pricing requests are submitted and administered using CMR’s Web-based tools that can be securely accessed from anywhere 24 x 7.
• Requestors fill out a user-friendly form that matches the look and feel of the vendor company’s other online resources.
• Users are prompted to enter all required information and the form is submitted only after all required fields have been completed.
• When a new claim is ready to be reviewed, processors receive an automatic alert, typically within five minutes of submission.
• Management can review, approve, decline, or counter-offer new requests in real-time, without having personnel tied up updating spreadsheets or justification documents.
• Channel partners are instantly notified when requests are approved, modified or declined.
• Easier and faster turnaround yields a more efficient overall sales and ordering process for sales staff members, channel partners and customers.
• Distributors and resellers can direct their time and effort into selling more effectively by leveraging special pricing as an effective tool to close more sales, and build more profitable partner and customer relationships.
• The vendor’s marketing management receives frequent, detailed market demand data to support or adjust product pricing strategies.

Availability and Compatibility

The Special Pricing Authorization channel management application from CMR is available for immediate deployment. This is a Web-based application that can be accessed with any Web browser – no other software needs to be installed on local computer systems. Complete details can be found at www.computermarketresearch.com.

About CMR

For more than 20 years, CMR has delivered cost effective, technology-based applications and services to manufacturers to assist them in managing channel data, optimize their trade promotion investments and maximize the effectiveness of their distribution channels. CMR’s Web-based solutions accelerate and automate distributor and reseller data collection, processing, analysis and reporting. CMR’s newest clients include Buffalo Technology, D-Link, LSI Corporation, and Targus. More information is available from the CMR customer support line at (858) 279-6668, or can be viewed at www.computermarketresearch.com

CMR Special Pricing Authorization, CMR and the CMR logo are trademarks of Computer Market Research, LTD. All other trademarks used herein are the property of their respective owners.

Coop/MDF Services from CMR enable manufacturers to automate traditional administrative processes and manual reporting functions to improve efficiency, accuracy and return on investment from trade promotion funds. Distributors, resellers, global partners and their sales and administrative personnel now have secure, 24x7 online access to their available balances of co-op advertising and market development funds. They can enter and submit claims, and the system can automatically calculate accruals using defined business rules and POS data.

“Targus expects that the new capabilities gained from using CMR’s Coop/MDF Web-based Services will increase the productivity of our internal administrative personnel as well as those of our distribution partners and resellers,” said Danielle Feith, channel marketing manager, Targus. “These new hosted resources give our reseller partners the ability to access information, build on Targus’ marketing programs and create an environment that helps fulfill our overall business objectives.”

Key benefits of CMR’s Coop/MDF Web-Hosted Services include:

• Accelerates Fund Approval Process. Prior approval requests, co-op claims and market development funds can be easily entered by partners and reviewed by manufacturers.
• Simplifies Processing. Reseller and distributor data collection and reporting processes are streamlined.
• Saves Time. Automatically identifies and lets users know when claim forms are incomplete. Only completed forms reach the claims processing desk.
• Reduces Costs. Administrative overhead and labor costs are substantially reduced.
• Helps Monitor ROI. Channel program and trade promotion ROI can be constantly tracked and measured.
• Improves Planning and Development of Marketing Programs. New marketing programs can be designed based on actual distributor and reseller performance.
• Generates Custom Analytics. Analytics can be performed by territory, reseller, product or distributor.
• Allows Instant and Secure Access, 24/7. Co-op and MDF balances YTD, totals earned YTD, total claims YTD, claims pending and claims paid out can be instantly accessed and downloaded 24/7.
• Secured Data. Privacy and data security are always assured.

“Many of the world’s leading manufacturers have relied on CMR to collect and standardize their channel sales and inventory data,” said Del Heles, president of Computer Market Research. “Our new Coop/MDF Hosted Services continue the CMR tradition of excellence and our commitment to helping manufacturers improve the ways they organize, manage and optimize all of their channel-related data and channel management processes.”

About Targus

Targus invented the notebook case and continues to advance the mobile accessories category with innovative and relevant solutions for today's mobile lifestyle. Targus products enhance productivity, connectivity, and security, liberating users to work in any and all environments with the utmost convenience and comfort. Founded in 1983, Targus headquarters are located in Anaheim, Calif., with offices worldwide and distribution agreements in more than 100 countries. For more information on Targus, visit www.targus.com.

About CMR

For more than 20 years, CMR has delivered cost effective, technology-based applications and services to manufacturers to assist them in managing channel data management, optimize their trade promotion investments and maximize the effectiveness of their distribution channels. CMR’s client/server and Web-based solutions accelerate and automate distributor and reseller data collection, processing, analysis and reporting. CMR’s newest clients include Buffalo Technology, D-Link, Hitachi Global Storage, LSI Logic, Targus, Samsung, Ricoh, Symbol Technologies and Western Digital. More information is available from the CMR customer support line at (858) 279-6668, or can be viewed at www.computermarketresearch.com

Targus and the Targus logo are registered trademarks of Targus Group International. CMR Coop/MDF, CMR and the CMR logo are trademarks of Computer Market Research, LTD. All other trademarks used herein are the property of their respective owners.

Ricoh is the leading provider of digital office equipment, offering an extensive line of small- to medium-sized business (SMB) and commercial color laser printers, monochrome laser printers, multifunction units, departmental scanners, MFP upgrade items, consumables and associated accessories.

“Since we began using CMR’s ChannelPOS Solutions, we have been receiving more complete, more accurate channel information in a more timely manner,” said Donald Bean, Business Operations Manager for Ricoh’s Printing Solutions Division. “This channel data along with the data management and data analysis applications that we get from CMR allow us to react more quickly and deliver better services to our channel partners.”

PartnerAvenue from CMR is a comprehensive channel management solution that delivers greater visibility into sales channels and pipelines to optimize the productivity of manufacturers’ sales and customer service teams. CMR’s ChannelPOS system integrates with PartnerAvenue to provide a complete turnkey portal solution for channel data management, timely commission reporting, price protection calculations, accurate forecasting, optimal marketing programs and funds management.

About Ricoh Corporation
Ricoh Corporation, headquartered in West Caldwell, N.J., is a subsidiary of Ricoh Company Ltd., the 70-year-old leading supplier of office automation equipment and electronics, with fiscal year 2005 sales in excess of $17 billion, a 5.6 percent increase over the previous year. Ricoh's fully integrated hardware and software products help businesses share information efficiently and effectively by enabling customers to control the input, management and output of documents. Ricoh's line of document management devices include, color and black & white digital imaging systems, facsimile products, printers, scanners, digital duplicators and wide format engineering systems. Ricoh offers a wide variety of document and printing solutions directly and through strategic alliances enhancing office productivity and document workflow. Ricoh's document management software enhances workgroup collaboration and offers secure storage, retrieval and sharing of critical information.

About Computer Market Research, Ltd.

(CMR) is the industry’s leading solution provider of POS data management applications for vendors distributing product in the high tech sector. For over 20 years, CMR’s web-based and hosted software applications have accelerated and automated distributor and reseller data collection, processing, analysis and reporting. CMR with Clients like Hitachi Data Systems, PalmOne, Samsung, Roxio and Symbol Technologies, rely on CMR to improve their POS data management process.

LSI Logic is an innovator in the semiconductor and storage systems markets. Their system-on-a-chip integration technologies and portfolio of intellectual property building blocks have laid a foundation for success in the global semiconductor market. Founded in 1981, the company’s 2006 market cap is $3.7 billion. LSI offers three enabling system-on-a-chip technologies, platform ASICs, standard-cell ASICs, and standard products, as well as host bus adapters and supporting software for its global customer base.

In-depth knowledge of customers and point-of-sale activity are critical aspects of any successful marketing and sales strategy. Having an accurate, up-to-date snapshot of the customer base is especially vital to upselling opportunities. That’s why LSI Logic is continuing to use CMR’s PartnerAvenue and ChannelPOS ChannelInventory Solutions, according to Andy Pan, Director of Sales for LSI Logic.

“CMR helps us to determine what a given customer is buying before we contact them and identify when and to whom to up sell. This enables us to have a topical conversation with the customer,” Pan said. “We can also use the data to target customers who aren’t ordering certain products from us and design a marketing campaign around them.”

CMR solutions provide LSI Logic with accurate, up-to-date POS information to enable the tracking of customer activity and sales trends. They also serve as a central repository to gather information so that everyone can see a history of each account. ChannelPOS reports help the LSI sales team strategize about how to motivate customers to purchase more of a certain product.

ChannelInventory from CMR itemizes inventory balances by account and improves the movement of inventory. It also helps LSI consolidate and organize inventory by partner and SKU. Management can now figure out each week, with a high degree of accuracy, what each partner has on hand so that they can find the right distribution partner for the right customer and keep products moving through their channels.

About LSI Logic Corporation
LSI Logic Corporation (NYSE: LSI) is a leading designer and manufacturer of communications, consumer and storage semiconductors for applications that access, interconnect and store data, voice and video. In addition, the company supplies storage network solutions for the enterprise. LSI Logic is headquartered at 1551 McCarthy Boulevard, Milpitas, CA.

D-Link is the leading networking company in the small-to-medium business (SMB) segment, providing almost 10 million connection points in Q2/2005. D-Link has 90 offices worldwide, offering thousands of networking products in 16 major categories including cable/DSL routers, USBs, print servers, VPN/Firewalls, and power- over-Ethernet devices.

Strategically designed for manufacturers selling within a tiered distribution system, CMR’s ChannelPOS is a sophisticated data collection system that organizes, collates and prepares measurement and reporting summaries for manufacturers.
“CMR ChannelPOS gives us actionable, reliable sales information on which to base sales projections and commissions,” said Robert Robinson, Director of Business Channel Sales at D-Link. “We can now brief upper management about trends and channel movement with the confidence that we have clean, accurate data."

Thanks to ChannelPOS, D-Link now has more accurate information on channel performance yields to drive more effective marketing plans and programs. The sales group cans more accurately documents returns, promotions and rebates as a percent of actual sales. Standard and customized reports within Channel POS reduce costs of collecting and processing channel POS data in-house.

According to Robinson, the ROI of using ChannelPOS is substantial. "CMR's ChannelPOS is far less expensive than doing it in-house, and we get far better results. It allows me to keep my operations and sales people focused and to see where we're heading so that we can take appropriate action."

More reliable data helps Robinson manage Partner Program Levels, which he can now easily determine from ChannelPOS data. It is also making Sarbanes-Oxley compliance reporting more efficient.

D-Link is also taking advantage of the CMR Reseller Profile module. CMR developed this Web solution to automate the process of reviewing and approving channel applicants who wish to become authorized resellers. With a click of a button, a reseller can submit an application for D-Link's review and approval. The reseller profile information can then be used for future reference alongside its sales history.

About D-Link
D-Link is the global leader in connectivity for small, medium and large enterprise business networking. The company continues to strive for excellence as an award winning designer, developer, and manufacturer of networking, broadband, digital electronics, voice and data communications solutions for the digital home, Small Office/Home Office (SOHO), Small to Medium Business (SMB), and Workgroup to Enterprise environments. With millions of networking and connectivity products manufactured and shipped, D-Link is a dominant market participant and price/performance leader in the networking and communications market. D-Link U.S.A., Canadian, and Mexico headquarters are located at:

Address
17595 Mt. Herrmann Street
Fountain Valley, CA, 92708.
Phone (800) 326-1688 or (714) 885-6000
FAX (866) 743-4905
Internet www.dlink.com

With approximately 26,000 employees worldwide, Hitachi GST offers a comprehensive product portfolio that sets the standard for hard drive miniaturization, capacity, performance and reliability. Their products include a range of hard drive products for desktop computers, high-performance servers, notebooks and consumer devices.

ChannelPOS from CMR is a supply chain tool that helps Hitachi GST streamline the collection, processing and analysis of POS data from seven distributors in the United States and nine distributors in Europe. Each month, all distributors are required to send their POS data in a standardized format to CMR. This data is automatically imported into the CMR ChannelPOS database from which OLAP cubes and Crystal reports can be extracted. POS data can also be exported to Excel for further “on-the-fly” manipulation.

For several years, the marketing, sales and channel development departments at Hitachi GST had been looking for an easy, flexible method of managing POS and channel data before they selected ChannelPOS from CMR.

“We assessed products from CMR and also one other vendor, whose offering was new and untested and not as robust,” said Barbara Cook, Channel Development Manager for Hitachi GST. “The decision to go with CMR’s ChannelPOS was fairly obvious from the very beginning, but it was their 90-day proof of concept that cinched the deal. It went very well and clearly demonstrated the power of their solution. ChannelPOS now helps us determine if the resources that we are devoting to a given customer are bringing the equivalent ROI and level of results. It has uncovered several accounts where this isn't the case, which has allowed us to refocus our energies and assign resources to other accounts.”

CMR’s ChannelPOS has enhanced customer relations for Hitachi GST, by providing snapshots of buying patters to enable more effective customer communications. IT has also helped increase sales by identifying how resources can be more effectively allocated and has reduced costs by helping to identify the right trade shows to attend.

ChannelPOS can pinpoint whether resources, both time and people, are being effectively allocated. “We have been quite surprised to find out that the resources we were giving certain customers just weren’t bringing results,” Cook added. “This has allowed us to refocus our energies and resources on the accounts that are buying the most.”

ChannelPOS is also being used at Hitachi GST to track rebates, calculate the return on investment of various marketing campaigns and to give the sales team a window into the state of their accounts. If sales are down for a given representative, ChannelPOS can identify trends in customer orders so that the rep can contact the customer and find out what’s going on. ChannelPOS gives Hitachi GST a snapshot of customer buying patterns with drill down capabilities, so that management can target their customer communications better.

On the marketing side, CMR is helping Hitachi GST with their 2006 marketing plan. ChannelPOS correlates POS data against various trade show attendee lists. In that way, it helps the company decide whether to continue attending a particular trade show. Management can immediately see which shows will pack the most punch. This has helped eliminate trade shows that cost a lot but aren’t being attended by their biggest customers, and vice versa.

Buffalo Technology is a global provider of award-winning networking, memory, storage and multimedia solutions for the home and small business environments as well as system builders and integrators. Among its many innovative products is the first combination DVD player/high-definition media streamer, which received an Editors' Choice award from Laptop Magazine in the fall of 2005.

For several years, Buffalo Technology has relied on CMR to transform raw POS and inventory data into actionable business intelligence. With four major distributors in the United States and direct sales to leading retail chains such as Best Buy, Micro Center and Fry's Electronics, Buffalo’s ability to get accurate, timely snapshots of POS and inventory data is critical to the success and continued growth of business.

"What we appreciate most is CMR's flexibility in customizing their products for our needs. The whole company is focused on making sure that we get the information we need to be successful,” said Said Erny-Jay Mezas, Director of Sales at Buffalo Technology. "It is a huge benefit to be able to accurately forecast what we need on the manufacturing side and communicate our expectations to our manufacturers based on current run rates and current inventory levels."

Buffalo Technology is using the CMR PartnerAvenue and Reseller Profile programs to administer its VAR programs. CMR has helped Buffalo Technology reduce the time needed to calculate and verify sales commissions from several days to less than two hours. They have also decreased administrative tasks so that sales reps now have more time to build customer accounts and relationships. In addition, forecasting capabilities have been improved to enable better, faster decisions.

"The most valuable benefit from CMR is their ability to customize and cater to our specific needs," Mezas added. "They can adapt our reports and make changes quickly. That's definitely important to the agility of our business and something that is a very rare service in our industry.

CMR’s ChannelPOS saves Buffalo Technology sales reps a substantial amount of time that can be used to sell to new accounts. It tells them immediately if their revenues are on target, both for the overall customer base or down to a specific customer.

About Buffalo Technology
Buffalo Technology (USA), Inc., based in Austin, Texas, is a leading global provider of award-winning networking, memory, storage and multi-media solutions for the home and small business environments as well as for system builders and integrators. With almost three decades of networking and computer peripheral experience, Buffalo has proven its commitment to delivering innovative, best-of-breed solutions that have put the company at the forefront of infrastructure technology.

"Computer Market Research was selected as a partner because of their ability to provide accurate and enchanced data sets leading to unlimited possibilities for channel distribution programs. With limitless access to dependable and concise data, LSI Logic can obtain heightened visibilty and expedited channel strategies all in a timely manner," said Del Heles, President of CMR. "Channel insight leads to defined and manageable partner networks, enhanced marketing programs and forecasted sales."

LSI Logic will outsource to CMR their sales and inventory data to provide timely and consistent reporting practices, eliminating the time lost tracking reporting partners that are behind schedule. This dramatically reduces cost, increases data management, allows for expedited reactions and increased valuable direction in the sales and marketing departments, resulting in improved channel management. CMR will send channel POS and inventory data through a unique filtration system that matches part numbers, state and zip code information, reseller names and along with verified reseller data and price lists.

In an ongoing process of data enhancement and channel management, incoming data will be matched and scrubbed, thus providing unparalleled data quality and accuracy and giving a clear picture as to what was sold and by whom. Files will be tracked by time received, imported, cleaned, migrated and processed so clients can back track and audit processes. CMR will provide concise reports and views in the following: sales by reporting partners, sales by product category, sales by part number, sales by country, by territory/global region, by state, sales by invoice date.

About LSI Logic Corporation
LSI Logic Corporation (NYSE: LSI) focuses on the design and production of high-performance semiconductors for Consumer, Communications and Storage applications that access, interconnect and store data, voice and video. LSI Logic engineers incorporate reusable, industry-standard intellectual property building blocks that serve as the heart of leading-edge systems. LSI Logic serves its global OEM and channel customers with Platform ASICs, standard-cell ASICs, standard products, host bus adapters, RAID controllers and software. In addition, the company supplies storage network solutions for the enterprise. LSI Logic’s corporate headquarters is located at:

Address
1621 Barber Lane
Milpitas, CA 95035
Internet www.lsilogic.com

Computer Market Research, Ltd.
(CMR) is the industry’s leading solution provider of POS data management applications for vendors distributing product in the high tech sector. For over 23 years, CMR’s web-based and hosted software applications have accelerated and automated distributor and reseller data collection, processing, analysis and reporting. Clients like Hitachi Data Systems, PalmOne, Samsung, Roxio and Symbol Technologies, rely on CMR to improve their POS data management process.

With this new partnership CMR will provide D-Link with their sales data displayed by reseller, by customer, by product or by month in customized reports and views. CMR’s partnership with Business objects allows for the comprehensive sales reports that can be drilled down to line item detail, and Microsoft OLAP cubes are used to present multiple dimensions of data sets, allowing the sales reps the luxury of viewing data unique to their specific territory within different dimensions. With a comprehensive product set D-Link will benefit from CMR’s unique matching and combining capabilities that send data through a filtration system combining and standardizing part-numbers and reseller names and enhancing data quality with a verification system unique to CMR.

D-Link’s newly recognized Var premium partner program will be complemented and enhance by CMR’s Reseller profiling automation technologies that streamlines and accurately monitors reseller profiles allowing for targeted marketing campaigns to the reseller. CMR will propel other channel marketing activities with the automation of Sales forecasting and lead management.

2005 has been a pronominal year for D-Link so far, extending its awards shelf to include product of the year for its media lounge player and gamerlounge router, and D-Link was named one of America’s top information technology.

CMR, the leader in channel information management for high tech vendors, today processes data for over thirty industry leaders in different vertical markets, 3-Com, Targus, Exabyte, Viewsonic, AMCC, Symbol Technologies and Palm One all rely on CMR to process their sales data and manage their marketing activities.

About D-Link- D-Link is the global leader in connectivity for small, medium and large enterprise business networking. The company continues to strive for excellence as an award winning designer, developer, and manufacturer of networking, broadband, digital electronics, voice and data communications solutions for the digital home, Small Office/Home Office (SOHO), Small to Medium Business (SMB), and Workgroup to Enterprise environments. With millions of networking and connectivity products manufactured and shipped, D-Link is a dominant market participant and price/performance leader in the networking and communications market. D-Link U.S.A., Canadian, and Mexico headquarters are located at:

Address
17595 Mt. Herrmann Street
Fountain Valley, CA, 92708
Phone (800) 326-1688 or (714) 885-6000
FAX (866) 743-4905
Internet www.dlink.com.

About Computer Market Research, Ltd.
(CMR) is the industry’s leading solution provider of POS data management applications for vendors distributing product in the high tech sector. For over 20 years, CMR’s web-based and hosted software applications have accelerated and automated distributor and reseller data collection, processing, analysis and reporting. CMR with Clients like Hitachi Data Systems, PalmOne, Samsung, Roxio and Symbol Technologies, rely on CMR to improve their POS data management process.

Del Heles, President and CEO of Computer Market Research, Ltd. explains the value established by the new business relationship. “AMCC will receive more than “outsourced data processing.” Once we have acquired the POS records, AMCC reaps the benefits of all of the services that we provide. Not only will we generate Crystal Reports saturated with vital business intelligence, we can automate the approval process of COOP/MDF funds and special pricing requests, forecast future sales, efficiently track leads and communicate with their resellers instantaneously. AMCC will have the tools to ensure every profitable opportunity is identified and grasped.”

Having regional sales offices spanning the world from Paris, to Shanghai and POS/inventory records arriving from all corners of the world on a monthly and weekly basis, AMCC determined it needed a partner who could continually aggregate the data from myriad locations to produce actionable reports on demand. AMCC selected CMR to collect process and standardize its channel data so as to provide an accurate data set used for insightful channel forecasting, timely commission reporting, accurate data management, optimal marketing programs and funds management.

Channel POS, CMR’s flagship product is a state-of-the-art data collection tool and reporting system that uses unique data cleansing and enhancement features to create comprehensive Crystal reports of monthly sales analytics by territory, reseller, product, and/or distributor. AMCC will use Channel POS for sales and marketing analysis, commission reporting and sales forecasting management. With Channel Inventory, CMR will provide AMCC with warehouse inventory balances, pending returns and sales by product. Timely file receipt is encouraged with CMR’s email reminders and AMCC will have the ability to gently remind reporting partners of tardy files with CMR’s new email and logging technologies.

AMCC will eventually extend the relationship with CMR to include additional channel data management tools offered by CMR. ResellerProfile will provide a way to streamline the application process of new resellers while enhancing the overall relationship between AMCC and their distributors and resellers. AMCC will have the ability to efficiently launch automatic email blasts to its national and international resellers with time-sensitive information, at will.

About AMCC - Applied Micro Circuits Corporation
AMCC provides the essential building blocks for the processing, moving and storing of information worldwide. The company blends systems and software expertise with high-performance, high-bandwidth silicon integration to deliver silicon, hardware and software solutions for global wide area networks (WAN), embedded applications such as PowerPC and programmable SOC architectures, storage area networks (SAN), and high-growth storage markets such as Serial ATA (SATA) RAID. AMCC's corporate headquarters are located in San Diego, California. Sales and engineering offices are located throughout the world. For further information regarding AMCC, please visit our web site at www.amcc.com.

About Computer Market Research
Computer Market Research, Ltd. (CMR) is the industry's leading solution provider of POS data management applications for the distribution channel. For over 23 years, CMR’s web-based and hosted software applications have accelerated and automated distributor and reseller data collection, processing, analysis and reporting. Clients like Hitachi Data Systems, PalmOne, Samsung, Roxio and Symbol Technologies, Targus, 3-Com, Exabyte rely on CMR to improve their POS data management process.

ChannelReporter was developed to eliminate or reduce the time-consuming and costly processes required by Channel partners faced with the tedious tasks of continuously manipulating data for multiple manufacturers in multiple formats, a requirement of manufacturer contract compliance for reporting Channel POS and inventory on a scheduled basis. ChannelReporter interfaces with the distributor’s internal databases to gather and compile the raw data required to furnish the reports, providing a rich set of more than 20 data fields to manufacturers on a predetermined and scheduled basis. The most common data points are inventory sold by partner, part number, date, product group, family, price, territory, sales person, and serial number and end-customer information, if recorded.
“Distributors will utilize ChannelReporter to comply with manufacturers’ contract reporting requirements, satisfy vendor marketing and MDF programs reporting, free up internal resources, save money, increase marketing revenue and better manage their business goals,” stated Del Heles, President/CEO.

CMR’s Channel sales and inventory reporting solutions improve corporate decision-making and reduce administrative costs by ensuring that Channel point of sales data is accurate and available when needed. ChannelReporter is a subscription service provided free by CMR to participating distributors. There is no limit to which manufacturers can be supplied reports from ChannelReporter, and no limit to the royalties distributors earn.

“While many distributors have developed their own reporting systems, many will use ChannelReporter to do some or all of their POS and inventory reporting, augmenting their own systems and using ChannelReporter to manage and feed data from and to multiple internal systems across departments in the enterprise,” commented Cappy Frederick, CMR’s VP of Business Development.

Distributors will use ChannelReporter to:
• Comply with manufacturer requirements to provide sales out and inventory reporting
• Organize and simplify data processing involving multiple vendors
• Streamline multiple reseller and end-user data collection processes
• Prepare sales analytics by manufacturer, territory, reseller, product
• Dramatically reduce overhead costs and manpower by automating processes
• Increase turnaround time on promotions, rebates and price protection
• Monitor returns as a percent of actual sales
• Provide comprehensive, clean reseller data & part number files
• Provide sales with information to develop new business
• Provide marketing with analysis of campaigns
• Improve strategic planning and resource allocation
• Selectively distribute information to internal departments and staffs
• Design marketing programs based on actual manufacturer and reseller performance

Monitor ROI on Channel Programs
Channel Reporter – Channel Reporter the integrated Channel POS and Inventory reporting system for the distributor, joins CMR’s family of sales and reporting solutions making it an ideal complement for distribution partners wishing to build on their Channel inventory reporting and information management systems.
www.computermarketresearch.com/solutions.html
ChannelPOS – CMR’s flagship product, ChannelPOS is state-of-the-art software tool that streamlines the collection and processing of reports from multiple reporting partners and creates comprehensive Crystal reports of monthly sales analytics by territory, reseller, product and/or distributor.
Channel Inventory – is a revolutionary tool for processing, consolidating and reporting channel inventory data, monitoring price protection and inventory levels. With Channel Inventory, decision makers are provided with sales by product, current warehouse inventory balances, returns and the impact of price reduction. Inventory moves are now monitored, returns are regulated, price protection and stock rotation can be reduced.
Partner Avenue – CRM’s turnkey PRM/CRM portal system to Channel POS data sets providing reseller activity and leads management tools, marketing program and funds tracking, reseller profiling and more.
Reseller Profile – Automates the reviewing and approving of reseller applicants. This module creates an easy and interactive reseller sign up process with online review, approval and centralization allowing expedited communication and marketing efforts.
Special Pricing Request – a module developed to allow channel partners to efficiently and accurately coordinate, track and document the special pricing requests of their distributors and resellers.
Compliance Wizard – Reporting partners are given access to online, user-friendly wizard in order to upload, map and clean their file to ensure accurate POS records. Partners are rated based on the accuracy, timeliness and completeness of the reporting.
Coop/MDF Management – Resellers and customer sales reps receive online updates of Coop/MDF balances with this module. Funds are tracked by customer, territory and fund type and monthly statements are then made available in an easily accessible
Electronic Product Warranty – User-friendly web-based solutions to warranty registrations saving time and resources and collecting and consolidating data.
For more information, visit us at: www.ComputerMarketResearch.com

Computer Market Research (CMR), with over twenty years of experience, is the industry’s leading solution provider of channel information management, consulting and software applications. For 23 years, CMR’s web-based, hosted or desktop software applications have accelerated and automated distributor and reseller data collection processing and analysis. Clients like Hitachi Data Systems, PalmOne, Viewsonic, Lantronix, Samsung and Symbol Technologies, among others, who are dependent upon multi-channel strategies, rely on CMR to improve data gathering management as well as customer and partner relationship management.

Since the early 1990’s, Partners In EXCELLENCE has worked with leading manufacturers to develop their channel strategies and execute high performance channel programs. With this strategic partnership, the companies will be able to provide rich performance management data to help manufacturers link strategies directly to the results achieved through the channel.

“Leading vendors in the IT Channel have come to rely on accurate and timely data, and reporting we provide to monitor sales activity in the channel. We will be providing our customers even more with the sophisticated performance management analysis reporting and services through our alliance Partners In EXCELLENCE,” states Del Heles, founder and CEO of CMR.

“In our work with leading manufacturers and software developers, we have sought to leverage performance data to help our clients better understand what is actually happening in the channel. We are providing them performance management tools to improve ROI they get from each investment they make in the developing the channel,” says Dave Brock, president and CEO of Partners In EXCELLENCE.

The performance management reporting and alert services will be offered as a complement to the current POS reporting provided by CMR. These services will provide tools to help monitor critical activities and trends in the channel, providing analysis on the performance and contributions of each reseller in the channel. Customers will be able to leverage these reports in creating performance management dashboards that can be used throughout the organization.

These performance management tools will help companies monitor and improve performance of top resellers, build better relationships with those resellers, improve satisfaction, improve cross-sell, align performance and potential, improve partner productivity, increase campaign effectiveness, increase mindshare, improve decisions on which programs to invest in which channel partners.

Users will be able to access sophisticated performance management reports directly, rather than having to develop them from disparate data sources themselves.

“Leaders in the industry are leveraging these techniques to improve their profitability and that of their resellers. Strong data driven approaches with sophisticated analysis are critical to success in achieving the highest levels of performance,” says Heles

Partner in EXCELLENCE, Inc.
Headquartered in Mission Viejo with branches throughout the United States, Partners in EXCELLENCE provides a variety of consulting and training services to help companies outsell and outperform their competition. Clients range from Fortune 100 companies to startups and include industries such as: internet, telecommunications, information technology-based companies, consumer products, office products, financial and professional services. They have rich experience in developing and executing channel strategies includes programs like channel strategy development, partner profiling and recruitment, partner business planning, partner performance management and productivity assessments, channel problem management, effectiveness and profitability assessments, and other programs. Partners In EXCELLENCE provides services in all areas of sales and marketing. For information on the products and services provided by Partners In EXCELLENCE, visit their web site at: www.excellence.com, email them at info@excellence.com or telephone them at 949-305-7146.

Computer Market Research, Ltd. (CMR).
Headquartered in San Diego, Computer Market Research (CMR) is the industry's leading solution provider of POS data management applications for the distribution channel. CMR clients implement ChannelPOS to optimize channel efficiency, gain better insight, align partner networks, reduce time-to-volume, and speed up the sales cycle by translating raw data into business intelligence – all key factors in driving greater revenue, profit, market share, and end-customer satisfaction. Tie in CMR’s on-line PartnerAvenue PRM application, and clients have the integration needed for timely commission reporting, price protection calculations, accurate forecasting, inventory control, special pricing requests, optimal marketing programs and funds management.

In 1988, CMR introduced a superior data quality management system integrating cleansing, standardizing and enhancement of data. Using a large database of comparison data, records were imported into a system and with the use of ‘string matching algorithms’, sets of records could be compared and identified; matches were then stored for future combinations. Unique combining and enhancement solutions further clairified data disparities, creating reliable and actionable data. Expertise and understanding of the channel and distribution processes allowed for the creation of reports; opening a corridor of insight into channel activities.

CMR offers an entire suite of products that provide an integrated web-based solution to Channel issues. Today, CMR expands its solution, automating ‘Ship and Debit’ processes, managing marketing funds and overcoming Spiff/Rebate issues. Effective compliance monitoring is facilitated with a unique scoring system rating reporting partners based on quality, timeliness and accuracy of data. A state-of-the-art “Reminders” system has been introduced allowing data to be retrieved efficiently and quickly using an automatic emailing system. CMR’s suite of Channel Sales applications and Partner Avenue PRM applications provides clients with the integration needed for effective lead and activity management, price protection calculations, accurate forecasting, inventory control, optimal marketing programs and funds management.

Computer Market Research would like to thank all of their clients for their continued relationships over the past 23 YEARS and particularly for acting as a catalyst in our rapid product evolution, allowing CMR and their CHANNEL MANAGEMENT SOLUTION to become a LEADER IN THE INDUSTRY.

About Computer Market Research
Computer Market Research, Ltd. (CMR) is the industry’s leading solution provider of POS data management applications for vendors distributing product in the high tech sector. Clients include Hitachi Data Systems, PalmOne, Samsung, Symbol Technologies, Netgear, Proxim, Lantronix, SMC Networks, Western Digital and Exabyte.

There is an obvious, inherent need for a secure system to automate the process of Special Pricing. With the evolution of the distribution industry, the need for a less challenging process and thus a simplified supply chain is the much needed next step.

We here at Computer Market Research have developed an automated Special Pricing Module™ as part of our solution for Channel Information Management and PRM. Within our online PRM Solution we have integrated a user-friendly SPR form. The system enables channel partners to request special pricing with the ease and simplicity of filling out an online form and submitting it. The system itself manages the 'Approval', 'Reply Notification', and 'Credit Claim' processes. Any requests to change the price of a product as it moves through the channel are then recorded and managed within this system. An airtight security model ensures all of the SPR transaction information is protected but accessible to those with appropriate privileges.

Allow your partners to make expedited requests, increase sales success, and provide superior Partner and End-Customer service satisfaction. Both you and your partners can be free from time-consuming processes and now redirect those efforts into selling effectively, delivering quality pricing and building profitable partner and customer relationships.

About Computer Market Research
Computer Market Research, Ltd. (CMR) is the industry's leading solution provider of channel information management, consulting and software applications. For 20 years, CMR’s web-based, hosted or desktop software applications have accelerated and automated distributor and reseller data collection processing and analysis. Clients like Hitachi Data Systems™, palmOne™, Samsung™ and Symbol Technologies™, among others, who are dependent upon multi-channel strategies, rely on CMR to improve data gathering management as well as customer and partner relationship management.

CMR clients implement ChannelPOS™ to optimize channel efficiency, gain better insight, align partner networks, reduce time-to-volume, and speed up the sales cycle by translating raw data into business intelligence - all key factors in driving greater revenue, profit, market share, and end-customer satisfaction. Tie in CMR's on-line PartnerAvenue™ PRM application, and clients have the integration needed for timely commission reporting, price protection calculations, accurate forecasting, inventory control, special pricing requests, optimal marketing programs and funds management.

Online communication is vital to the process of gathering channel data. The first step in the gathering process is for the manufacturer to clarify their in-house goals for the information. The financial, sales, information technology and marketing departments must address current challenges that will be alleviated with proper data collection and reporting. Challenges may include proper recognition of revenue through the channel, proper cleaning of the data, managing leads and precise sales compensations, among others.

Once the challenges and goals have been identified, the channel manager and the reporting partners must enter into an agreement that specifies the collection requirements. Avoid simple agreements to “collect the data in a timely manner,” by providing concise specifications as to what day and time the monthly or weekly POS files are due. The agreement must detail the repercussions of receiving a late file. Also, tracking reporting compliance and rewarding those who are continually prompt reporting partners, in the form of Co-ops and MDFs improves reporting performance.

The reporting process must be simple. Ease the gathering process by allowing multiple user-friendly methods of receiving the files. If reporting partners require different methods of reporting and/or different file formats, be flexible. For example, be able to receive files through a secure website, as an email attachment, or any other collection method. Some partners may send Excel spreadsheets while others will provide text files. Be prepared to standardize all of the collected data.
The final step is to generate reports based on the cleaned and processed data that can be used to share the value of the insightful information with the reporting partners. Information regarding strong leads and product success can assist the partners in targeting future sales opportunities, which benefits all parties involved.

About Computer Market Research
Computer Market Research, Ltd. (CMR) is the industry's leading solution provider of channel information management, consulting and software applications. For 20 years, CMR’s web-based, hosted or desktop software applications have accelerated and automated distributor and reseller data collection processing and analysis. Clients like Hitachi Data Systems™, palmOne™, Samsung™ and Symbol Technologies™, among others, who are dependent upon multi-channel strategies, rely on CMR to improve data gathering management as well as customer and partner relationship management.

CMR clients implement ChannelPOS™ to optimize channel efficiency, gain better insight, align partner networks, reduce time-to-volume, and speed up the sales cycle by translating raw data into business intelligence - all key factors in driving greater revenue, profit, market share, and end-customer satisfaction. Tie in CMR's on-line PartnerAvenue™ PRM application, and clients have the integration needed for timely commission reporting, price protection calculations, accurate forecasting, inventory control, special pricing requests, optimal marketing programs and funds management.

Lantronix, a provider of hardware and software network-enabled devices, will use CMR’s products to automate their process of gathering, qualifying and managing channel distributor, reseller and end-user sales information. The product suite will be rolled out in a phased implementation over the next two quarters, allowing Lantronix to familiarize themselves with each of the products at a productive pace.

Beginning with CMR’s ResellerProfile module, Lantronix can discard their old methods of manually receiving and processing faxes of hand printed applications from potential authorized resellers. ResellerProfile allows them to quickly and carefully evaluate an electronic version of the prospective reseller applications. Once approved, the profile will contain all customer data, including contact information and business overview. When accessed through the PartnerAvenue portal, all supplementary modules will combine the most current sales data to enhance the benefit of their reseller profiles.

PartnerAvenue will provide Lantronix with web access to additional modules such as ChannelPOS and COOP/MDF Funds Management that will integrate with the ResellerProfile module to create an intelligent flow of detailed information and communication through the high-tech distribution channel. The results generated by these integrated products will allow Lantronix to accurately calculate commissions, track incentive program costs, gauge return on investment for marketing programs and reduce the overhead associated with overall channel management procedures.

About Lantronix Lantronix, Inc. (NASDAQ: LTRX) is a provider of hardware and software solutions ranging from systems that allow users to remotely manage network infrastructure equipment to technologies that network-enable devices and appliances. Lantronix was established in 1989, and its worldwide headquarters are in Irvine, California. For more information, visit the company on the Internet at www.lantronix.com.

About Computer Market Research
Computer Market Research, Ltd. (CMR) is the industry's leading solution provider of channel information management, consulting and software applications. For 20 years, CMR’s web-based, hosted or desktop software applications have accelerated and automated distributor and reseller data collection processing and analysis. Clients like Hitachi Data Systems™, palmOne™, Samsung™ and Symbol Technologies™, among others, who are dependent upon multi-channel strategies, rely on CMR to improve data gathering management as well as customer and partner relationship management.

CMR clients implement ChannelPOS™ to optimize channel efficiency, gain better insight, align partner networks, reduce time-to-volume, and speed up the sales cycle by translating raw data into business intelligence - all key factors in driving greater revenue, profit, market share, and end-customer satisfaction. Tie in CMR's on-line PartnerAvenue™ PRM application, and clients have the integration needed for timely commission reporting, price protection calculations, accurate forecasting, inventory control, special pricing requests, optimal marketing programs and funds management.

The Revolutionary Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (SarbOx)
The Sarbanes-Oxley Act was passed as a consequence of the scandals found in the untruthful quarterly and annual reports of certain public companies. Among other unethical business practices, investors and governmental officials were deliberately misled by the practice of recognizing sales from the manufacturer and distributors to the resellers as final sales that should not have been declared as revenue. Since the distributors would not pay for the product until they had acquired payment from their resellers, they were returning the unsold products to the manufacturers when the reporting period had passed, causing deceptive reporting by the manufacturers.

The Act has caused chaos within pubic companies by insisting that they become instantly SarbOx compliant. Threats of increased CFO imprisonment time have escalated from ten years to twenty-five years and up to five million dollars in personal fines. The new regulations demand that responsibility for their corporations’ financial reporting be taken with the utmost seriousness.

How Computer Market Research can assist in SarbOx Compliance!
With solutions like ChannelPOS™, CMR eliminates the problem of inaccurate reporting of recognized revenue within a three-tiered channel distribution system. The online application is a precise, efficient solution that creates detailed revenue reports from raw POS records at the distributor, reseller, product and end user levels. The constant worry of inaccurate documentation dissolves as our team translates raw data into real-time actionable data which provides the business intelligence, as required by the new rigid regulations.

With the objective documentation generated by our frequent reports, our clients, their investors and most importantly, their auditors have no opportunity to subjectively doubt the ethics of the business practice.