Veeam looking to get more partners to gold

Veeam has indicated that its determination to get more partners to the higher levels of its partner programmes remains the ambition for the rest of this year and into 2020.

The cloud data management specialist has been encouraging a greater focus on its existing channel base encouraging resellers to unlock more rewards through investing in skills and knowledge.

Greg Bailey, director of channel and cloud, UKI at Veeam, said that it was keen to put its channel in the best position to meet the needs of customers.

“If there’s one thing we’re prioritising for both the rest of this year and the next, it’s more internal focus for our next-generation of partners we’re developing for gold status. We’re trying to build the right set of focused partners for the field staff to take forward, based on definitions of similarities between the resellers that go to market and Veeam. The transition towards annuity is a big driver, and a large trend within key resellers. There’s a move towards a more consumption-based, annuity-based model,” he said.

“Our view has always been that if we understand the challenges of our partners, we should plan to solve these challenges rather than try and encourage partners to adhere to our own preferences. Our strategy is to mirror our partners ideal strategy. We’re constantly asking ourselves: what are partners hearing, seeing and feeling? How can we help them optimise?” he added.

Bailey added that there were always challenges for the channel in making sure they could take advantage of emerging trends like IoT and AI but it was working to make sure the support was there for partners looking to address those opportunities.

“For Veeam, it ultimately boils down to the simple elements of having a sales force that understands customers and their challenges, and the ability to build solutions that support those. It can be easy for businesses to get carried away on other seemingly ‘cool’ trends for future use, but it’s far more important to ensure that these don’t become distractions and that they stay focused on having the right data management policies in place today. They need to ensure they have the right tech in place that works best for them now, rather than what might be useful later,” he said.

“Understanding the basics of data governance, compliance, and Cloud Data Management goes a long way now for businesses. If they have the right technology in place to support these, they can look at how to use their data better with later trends further down the line,” he added.Another change that Veeam is responding to is the growth in the cloud service provider (CSP) model and the ongoing shift in the channel towards services. Bailey said that the business was changing and it was reacting to ensure it could meet channel needs.

“There is a much bigger focus on CSP programs now rather than a previous preference for large enterprise-scale programs. And this has a knock-on effect. In our own case, Veeam’s UK cloud business grew 68% in the first half of this year, compared against year-on-year growth,” he said.

“It’s fast becoming all about annuity-based services, and there is no getting away from that. Veeam’s cloud business will likely run towards a ‘50/50 split’ with its perpetual on-premises business. So far, it’s at 25%, but the direction in which the industry is headed will see this side of our business accelerate. It’s all only going to go one way. We’re aware of that, that’s where we’re investing our time and money. It’s a huge part of our 2020 planning. Watch this space,” he added.