The Atlanta Constitution from Atlanta, Georgia • 21

ATLANTA ECONOMIC PROFILE INSIDE Air travelers at Harlsfleld llerlsfleld aircraft operations Construction expenditures 70 4.6 i 4.4 vn L. I In 1H i i i Poll: U.S. responding to imports. 2C Forum: Don't get trampled in stocks. 3C Fraud suit ruling stirs mixed responses.

11C Offer for JWT kicks up new dust. 12C 3 1 1 '60-; 400 I 300; 200 100 I 0 i 5 3.6 FT I I IPp fill i-v- i i 3.4 11 i Jj 3.2 i A MA 1987- AM AS A A 0 NO 1986 Source; Airport Commissioner's Office MA 19d7 A A 0 Source: F.W. Dodge Division of MeGraw 1 986 1 1 987 Hill Intormatlon Systems Source: Airport Commissioner's Office 1986 MONDAY, JUNE 15, 1987 SECTION cXlje Atlanta 2ournal the Atlanta constitution TOUg tough area fw big vcluo' adclod reseller mcsrltbt Survey shows many resellers really dislike dealing with IBM In 19fc6 the volume of sales through the VAR channel was $10.1 billion, Size classes sold Volume of sales through VAR channel in 1986 Top rated vendors to the VAR market published in August, the resellers consistently voted IBM low or lowest on a list of a dozen of the nation's largest computer vendors in 16 categories ranging from quality of products to meeting delivery schedules. On the VARbusiness scale, IBM scored an overall 5 out of a possible 10. Other big vendors, such as NCR, fared little better.

The top ratings went to Prime Computer with an overall average of 7.13. Hewlett-Packard Co. scored the highest in six categories. Other vendors on the list were Altos Computer Systems, American Telephone Telegraph Unisys Data General Datapoint Digital Equipment Texas Instruments Inc. and Wang Laboratories Inc.

Value-added resellers buy computers from vendors and mesh them with their own software, installation and support services. They target intermediate-size companies that need computer systems but can't justify having a full-time staff to support them. Few resellers operate nationwide. The majority serve customers in their own cities or regions. Because of the complexity of today's computer systems, VARs are becoming increasingly important to computer companies.

They form a channel for distribution of manufacturers' products to customers that otherwise would be too costly and time-consuming for the computer makers to reach. The value of sales through VARs last year totaled $10.1 billion, according to International Data a market research firm. Although IBM's executives By Robert Snowdon Jones Staff Writer Because computer companies simply can't reach all potential customers by themselves, reselling computer systems is getting to be big business. But some of the industry's largest players are having a hard time adjusting to this relatively new form of distribution. Pat Gallagher, vice president of sales and marketing for Richardson, Texas-based Com-putrac which supplies turnkey computer systems and software for law offices, gives low marks for International Business Machines (IBM) support of its value-added resellers, or "VARs," as they are called in the industry.

For one, he claims, the mammoth computer maker gives puny discounts to resellers that market its computer systems with their own software. "Trying to make it on 15 percent is almost impossible," said Gallagher. Computrac, which has been using Hewlett-Packard Co. computers since 1976, said it has had a chance to resell IBM computers, but turned it down. Among some of Compu-trac's other complaints are that IBM has a number of computer systems that cannot share the same software.

That makes it difficult to design a program that can be used on a wide variety of configurations. On top of that, Computrac finds itself crossing the paths of IBM salesmen. "IBM's sales force competes with you," Gallagher said. Gallagher's opinions apparently are shared by other VARs surveyed by Manhasset, N.Y.-based VARbusiness magazine. In a survey of 785 VARs to be Category Company Rate Breadth of product line: Digital Equipment Corp.

7.86 Quality of products: Hewlett-Packard Co. 9.21 Availability of products: Prime Computer Inc. 8.50 Commitment to VAR program: Datapolnt 6 73 Overall Impression of vendor: 3 ji Hewlett-Packard Co. 7.70 Highest overall average: Prime Computer Inc. 7.13 Lowest overall average: IBM 5.0 Moat categoriea overall: Hewlett-Packard Co; 6 'Based on an index of 1-10, with 10 being the top score Survey of 705 VAR resellers nationwide 81 of the 785 VARs surveyed during the last 12 months indicated that they resell products for more than one vendor.

The median length of time in operation for VAR companies surveyed is 9 years. The primary vertical markets targeted by these VARs (in order of number of mentions): medical health care hospital; manufacturing; distribution; accounting; financial banking; construction; legal; government; real estate; insurance; communication; general business; education; publishing; utilities; transportation; engineering. The. median annual revenue generated by these VAR companies Is $2,500,000. --vY-'m if "itrfr Work could begin on now office condo Developer Joel Griffin, the suburban office condo builder whose demolition of the Peachtree Terrace Apartments raised the ire of preservationists, appears to be on the verge of starting construction on the high-rise office condo he has planned on the Midtown site.

A new 3-D style sign has gone up there, and attorneys reportedly are dotting the i's and crossing the t's on enough sale contracts for office space to enable Griffin's lender to loosen the purse strings. Griffin, who purchased the land for $4.9 million from executives of Carter Associates originally planned to start building the 19-story structure, named the Peachtree, last fall. Cancer society again looking at Atlanta A team from the American Cancer Society site selection committee will be in Atlanta this week to visit possible locations for its new headquarters. Atlanta is competing against Houston and Dallas to become the headquarters site for the world's largest volunteer health organization, which is now based in New York. The site selection committee, which visited Atlanta last month, has been restruc- tured to drop members who came from one of the three cities being considered.

The four new members will be in Atlanta to 1 review available real estate. One Atlanta Plaza luring neighbors One Atlanta Plaza, the square-foot tower that opened 18 months ago as the largest speculative office building outside of downtown, is luring ten- ants from neighboring buildings. Towers Perrin Forster Crosby Inc. "I has leased 80,000 square feet of office space in the tower, where it will consolidate fc operations that it now has in Tower Place and Live Oak Center, both nearby com-. plexes.

The consulting firm is starting out with 3 Vt and options to expand to six floors. Bear Stearns also in Tower Place, has leased 40,000 square feet at One Atlanta Plaza, which adjoins the Lenox MARTA station. Both leases are for 10 years. The latest leases bring commitments for One Atlanta Plaza space to 72 percent, raising the question of when construction will begin on the second office building planned in the complex. The master plan for the project, a joint venture of Dallas-based Vantage Prop- erties Inc.

and Travelers Insurance is now being "re-evaluated," Vantage says. Officials of the development firm and Travelers have been reviewing leasing in their first building and the general market for office space in the Lenox area over the past two months. Pepsi wins in taste; Coke tops in sales New taste tests yield the same old conclusions: Pepsi outscores Coke, even though Coke still outsells Pepsi. Pepsi-Cola executives say their new round of taste tests, called "America's Choice," proves "hands-down" that consumers prefer the taste of Pepsi over Coca-Cola classic 62 percent-to-38 percent. That's the same conclusion of the old "Pepsi Challenge" campaign, which is one reason the Coca-Cola Co.

changed the formula for Coke two summers ago. Nevertheless, Coca-Cola classic -the old taste still outsells Pepsi, and Coca-Cola executives still are trying to convince consumers that new Coke is the best-tasting soft drink of all. Coca-Cola claims that in blind taste tests of their own, consumers continue to choose the taste of new Coke over the taste of Pepsi 55 percent-to-45 percent. 8C a See VAR MITCHELL BROOKyStaff Survey indicates 3rd-quarter job outlook for Atlanta is bright By Tom Walker Staff Writer companies in metro Atlanta each quarter to obtain an index of employment plans. A company spokesman said the same firms are surveyed each quarter and represent a cross-section of industry groups.

The Atlanta sample is part of Manpower's national survey of 13,000 companies. In the U.S. outlook, the Milwaukee-based pating in its latest survey announced their intention to add personnel during the third quarter. The majority, 65 percent, do not plan to make any changes, and only 7 percent plan layoffs in the July-August-September quarter, said William K. Fogerty, area manager of Manpower's Atlanta operations.

But the third-quarter hiring plans were significantly higher than they were earlier in the year or at the same time a year ago, according to Fogerty. In Manpower's poll of local hiring expectations for the second quarter, 22 percent of the Atlanta companies had said they anticipated job increases and 14 percent said they intended to lay workers off. In the same quarter last year, 22 percent of the Atlanta companies anticipated staff additions while 22 percent expected to make layoffs in the summer quarter. Manpower's Atlanta office surveys 60 Job prospects in the Atlanta area, already among the best in the nation, are expected to improve even more during the summer months, the latest quarterly job forecast reveals. The Atlanta office of Manpower an international temporary help firm, said 28 percent of the local companies partici 6C See JOBS MONDAY PROFILE 3 Concerns rising that nation could face a pension crisis Seidman has added a new personality with Abernathy at the helm 1 -r 1 'I I sx Jt XV 1 1 lit ''t'l Today, employers across the nation have promised more than 30 million employees a clearly defined set of pension benefits at retirement.

And corporate pension plans, flush with funds from a record bull market on Wall Street, look as solid as steelmaker Kaiser's golden handshakes did three years ago. But beneath the surface, congressmen, pension experts, and even Reagan administration officials, see a crisis brewing. There is widespread fear that in the coming years, millions of. Americans will wind up no better off than Kaiser's retirees. The chief concern is whether companies have endangered future retirees' pensions by siphoning off billions of dollars from overfunded The Denver Port DENVER In 1984, thousands of Kaiser Steel employees, ranging from millworkers to managers, got what looked like golden handshakes from their longtime employer.

They took early retirements from the company, with lifetime guarantees of health insurance and pension benefits. Just three years later, those guarantees have turned to dust. A series of hostile takeovers bled Colorado Springs-based Kaiser of most of its assets, and the company filed for bankruptcy reorganization in January. Early retirement payments have stopped, medical coverage has vanished and 7,000 Kaiser retirees are jockeying for position with other unsecured creditors in Chapter 11. They will see only a fraction of the $850 million in medical and pension benefits owed to them.

By Marilyn Geewax Staff Writer As the son of an accountant, John D. Abernathy long has had a deep respect for the traditions and history of the accounting profession. But in the four years since becoming chairman of Seidman Seidman, the former Atlantan has been pushing the New York-based accounting firm into new directions. "He has taken a good, solid firm and given it a little personality," said Arthur Bowman, editor of Bowman's Accounting Report, a newsletter based in Atlanta. "They've been knocking 'em dead." In rare moves for an accounting firm, Seidman recently began helping individual clients monitor their investments, plan their estates and JOEY IVANSCOStaff JOHN D.

ABERNATHY: Former Atlantan heads nation's 1 1th-largest accounting firm. See PENSION 10C 9C See ABERNATHY.