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Keepit cuts ribbon on London base
Backup and recovery player is the second Danish firm to set its sights on growing its position in the UK market in the space of a week
The UK is clearly an attractive market for Danish firms looking to build channels and grow market share outside their native country.
Last week, Danish player Conscia gained a UK foothold with a move got Portsmouth and Oxford- based fellow Cisco gold partner ITGL. Heading in the same direction is cloud backup and recovery player Keepit, which has cut the ribbon on a UK headquarters as a signal that it is serious about growing share and working with more channel partners here.
The firm is operating out of a London base, with Jerry Mumford driving the business efforts in the country as vice-president for UK&I and MEA.
Keepit has been around since 2007, specialising in delivering its backup and recovery services for SaaS applications, and already has some high-profile customers in the UK, including The National Gallery and Oxford University Innovation.
The firm has been in channel-building mode after landing a recent $40m refinancing package from HSBC Innovation Banking, which has helped the firm at a time when it is looking to be channel first, setting up its partner network.
“Establishing a stronger base in the UK is an important step for Keepit: an opportunity to build on the foundations we already have here, and grow our partner ecosystem and customer base,” said Mumford.
“The UK market is significant, with a robust IT infrastructure and high levels of new technology adoption. But that means it is also a key target for cyber criminals – and, of course, data loss can seriously impact business continuity. Our commitment to vendor independence, broad service coverage, fast recovery times, and dedication to security, will mean that more UK organisations will have the resilience to keep their businesses running, even when disaster strikes,” he added.
The business has seen decent growth in the UK, even before opening an office in the City, and the ambition is to match that in 2024.
Those sentiments echo the statement issued by Erik Bertman, CEO of Conscia, after it sealed the ITGL acquisition last week, to provide it with a platform to increase its business in the UK.
“The UK has a strong and expansive technology ecosystem and is one of the largest markets in Europe. Through ITGL’s forward-thinking technical know-how and industry experience, we will be well-placed to contribute to the region’s continued IT infrastructure growth and digital transformation. This is a significant milestone for Conscia,” he said.
According to the Comoubase analysis of the Danish ICT market, the country is a source of innovation and there is a focus on supporting the channel through services propositions. The approach taken towards partners is similar to the rest of Northern Europe, which would make it smoother to replicate home-based sales approaches in the UK.
