EMC set for mid-market push
New channel boss to lavish more attention on mid-market firms
My job is to recruit different partners to get the right coverage
EMC’s new EMEA channel leader is hoping to sign up partners across the region to help the vendor push into the mid-market.
Nicolas Leblanc has been promoted from a channel role in the south of the region and assumes the position of EMEA channels and mid-market director.
“We want to align and drive more channel sales and more revenue in this mid-market area,” he said. “We have a product roadmap and portfolio that supports partners to grow in that segment. My job is to [recruit] different types of partner to get the right coverage for different territories, product lines or industries.”
Leblanc indicated EMC would consider making tweaks to its Velocity global channel programme later in the year. But he said that all is well on the EMEA distribution front, claiming he would not be “making changes for the sake of it”.
Services will be a fruitful area for the EMC channel this year, predicted Leblanc.
“As the market moves towards backup and recovery services, virtualisation and archiving solutions, it provides an opportunity for partners to propose and create their own services.”
Paul Sweeney, managing director of NetApp partner ANS Group, claimed EMC is not the best alternative for the mid-market and SME space.
“EMC is pricier and is very much in the high-end space,” he said. “We do not tend to compete with it, [but rather] Compellent, 3PAR, Dell EqualLogic and HP LeftHand.”