CommVault head of channel sales A/NZ, Ash Diffey.
1. Key channel plays for 2015?
For us, our main goal is contextualising data and archiving, and how it directly impacts business transformation. Storing data is not just about providing a home for data, so it can sit there for years and years and add no value. It’s about companies understanding their assets, and realising the potential of that data through analytics.
2. Key technology for 2015?
With data continuing to grow at a rapid rate, the prevalence of the Internet of Things will be an interesting space to watch. The sheer quantity of data generated by enterprises nowadays, means a greater amount of storage and network capacity is needed to transmit this information through different networks and devices. The continued rise of the Internet of Things will also add to the data available for big data analytics. The insights gained from this will continue to transform businesses decision making processes.
3. Key message to the channel for 2015?
We revamped our partner programme a year ago, and in the process we have seen significant growth. In order to get the best results out of this process we discussed with partners how we can continue to work together to best support their businesses. In the same way, partners need to think about the needs of their customers. This means, not simply providing a solution to a problem, but actually foreseeing how current issues, such as the data retention laws, could impact a customer’s security and storage requirements. Think long term, not short term.
4. Key warning to the channel for 2015?
In the past year, Australian customers have become a lot more savvy with what they are purchasing, choosing to hold off on the refreshing of hardware to see what the cloud can do for their businesses. I would say that over the next year and a half, the channel needs to be prepared for customers looking for more ‘business consultant’ types of offerings, which can help advise them on the storage strategy that best suits them.
5. Key to CommVault for 2015?
The key to our success comes down to doing what we do best, that means building on our software innovation, and through strategic relationships with service provider partners, deliver solutions to simplify customers transition to cloud computing. An example of such solution can be found in our Endpoint Data Protection system Simpana, which helps protect and enable the mobile workforce – a road that many businesses are currently going down.
