Veeam moves ahead in virtualisation race

Management tools specialist claims early entry into the UK has cemented its place in the channel

Corridor of power: Veeam claims its early entry into the UK has cemented its position in the market

A slew of virtualisation players have recently launched in the UK channel, hoping to capitalise on Europe’s growing appetite for the technology.

Over the past six months, the UK has seen overseas vendors Kaviza, PanoLogic, InstallFree and Systancia all launch bids to ramp up their UK market coverage.

However, virtualisation specialist Veeam was one of the first out of the starting blocks in 2008, marking its launch into the UK with the opening of its Camberley headquarters and a partner recruitment drive.

The firm has since accrued 160 UK partners and seen revenues grow by 130 per cent between 2008 and 2009.

Daniel Fried, managing director for EMEA at Veeam, said: “The number of partners we have signed in the UK over the past two-and-a-half years is proof that our products have been well received and that we have successfully made our mark.”

Rick Hoffman, vice president of channels and alliances at Veeam, said that despite the dire economic landscape at the time of its launch, putting off its UK expansion plans was never an option for the firm.

“The UK has always been an important part of our overall strategy because of its reputation as an early adopter of new technologies,” said Hoffman. “By the time the really bad news about the recession broke, we were already on our way.”

In fact, Hoffman credits the tight economy as being a key growth driver for the firm and the uptake of its products in the UK.

Challenging conditions

Kay Bruen from Clipsham IT, a consultancy firm that helps overseas vendors crack new markets, said Veeam had done well to establish itself under such challenging conditions.

“During the recession, resellers have been largely concentrating on their existing vendors, rather than actively seeking new ones for their portfolios,” she said.

“The success of Veeam is proof that if the technology is sufficiently compelling, then the channel is still willing to step up and invest in new and innovative technology.”

Clive Longbottom, service director at market watcher Quocirca, said Veeam was wise to ignore the recession and push ahead with its plans to cross the pond to the UK.

“I have spoken to a lot of US organisations that have maintained focus on the UK through the recession,” he said. “The weakness of the dollar has made the pound attractive for them, and many have found that their investments have paid off.”

The number of partners Veeam has signed up since launch suggests that the company has overcome the cultural differences overseas vendors face when trying to establish themselves outside of their home territories, added Longbottom.

“There are many US vendors who have the ‘it worked in the US, so it should in the UK’ mentality, but they should not underestimate the need for cultural sensitivities,” he said.

Mel Wilks, datacentre director for Veeam distribution partner Magirus, said the company had made several shrewd moves that have helped to endear it to resellers in the UK.

First, the margins available on Veeam’s VMware virtual environment management tools are high because of the part of the virtualisation market on which it has chosen to focus.

“The Veeam product portfolio is pretty niche, so partners are not faced with a high level of competition when it comes to bidding for work,” explained Wilks.

Additionally, at the time of the firm’s UK launch, a high proportion of Veeam’s European senior management team were former VMware employees. For resellers unsure of whether to partner with the firm, this would have made the decision a lot easier, claimed Wilks.

“The team it had in place was well known in the channel, which was reassuring for resellers unsure about investing in a vendor that was not so well known,” he said.

The Veeam ProPartner programme is also relatively easy and low cost to get on to, added Wilks.

“There are a couple of hoops you have to go through, but the technical barriers to entry and costs associated with achieving them are not cost
prohibitive,” he said