Andrew Martin, Zerto director Asia Pacific and Japan
1. Key channel plays for 2015
2015 is going to be about re-inventing. For the channel the key play is to re-invent their go to market strategy. The world we all serve is changing now more than I have seen in the last twenty years. You only have to look how huge companies like IBM are completely transforming to know that as a channel player, if you don’t re-invent you are in more danger than ever of becoming irrelevant.
2. Key technology for 2015
Software Defined Everything. The software defined datacentre is real, it’s here and is shaping the huge transformations we are seeing in corporate IT. I don’t see a day go by without an IT vendor releasing some kind of announcement which is underpinned by some kind of software defined message. Virtualisation, Hybrid Cloud and Hyper-Converged appliances are all fuelled by this new software defined approach. VARs, SI’s and Distributors need to invest in their employees by building their knowledge and skills in the software defined world in order to best service their customers.
3. Key message to the channel for 2015
Build new partnerships and do so quickly. The vendor landscape is changing very fast. Trusted channel vendors are changing their models, cloud and XaaS delivery models mean that the dynamics of vendor partner relations are changing forever. In addition, products that have been a key pillar for many resellers are becoming less relevant in today’s world and therefore that revenue needs to be replaced. Companies like the one I work for, Zerto, are springing up with technologies “born in the cloud”, orchestrated for virtualised environments. The channel needs to seek out new vendor partnerships that can provide technology that will allow them to stay relevant in the software defined world.
4. Key warning to Zerto for 2015
The changes we are seeing in the corporate datacentre today are the most fundamental for two decades and are rewriting channel dynamics, vendor routes to market and the technology that corporate IT consumes. The channel needs to understand this massive shift, adapt and then embrace it. I have conversation on nearly a daily basis with channel partners that are seeing their traditional business is drying up. My warning is that these strong indicators are not just a deep dip in a sales cycle, this is evidence that old channel business models and technologies are becoming irrelevant. The good news for channel partners is that if they can understand, react and embrace this change, the opportunities are huge.
5. Key to your company’s success in 2015
Read more: NEC Australia signals strong growth for 2015
We have an absolutely amazing technology. We are re-writing how replication, application mobility, disaster recovery and business continuity is done. I see Zerto as one of the new breed, and when IT professionals who require a DR solution for a virtualised environment get exposed to our technology, they simply love what we do. Key to our success is simply making sure more people get exposed to our product and we intend to do that through growing and investing in our partner network. By recruiting more partners we have no doubt that we will attain more Zerto users and increase our footprint in the APJ region. At the same time Zerto will help breathe a new and relevant revenue stream into the channel by enabling them to offer a technology developed for the software defined era.
