Nimble Storage lands UK partnership with S3

Vendor highlights channel storage vacuum caused by M&A activity

Nimble Storage has marked the start of its European channel push by unveiling storage systems integrator Solid State Solutions (S3) as its first UK partner.

The company was founded in the United States by two former NetApp and DataDomain execs, and wants to tap into the vacuum it claims has been left by the M&A activity that has taken place in the storage channel over the past 18 months.

Phil Turner, EMEA sales director at Nimble Storage, joined the firm at the start of September from Data Domain and told ChannelWeb: "There is a massive vacuum [in the channel] at the moment and unless you are a big player signed up with the Dells, EMCs and NetApps of this world, it is very hard to get a look in.

"For VARs that target the SMB market, but want a product that scales up to the enterprise, what is there in the market that is an independent prospect that that will open up new deals to them?"

Nimble's flagship products are its CS-Series arrays, which feature primary storage, backup and disaster recovery in a single 3U device.

The firm recently signed up Basingstoke-based VAR S3 to resell the products in the UK, and is in the throes of a "highly-selective" recruitment campaign.

"We want to work with a select number of partners that are able to retain a good margin on the product, rather than sign up hundreds and have them all scrambling after the same deals," explained Turner.

"I know from my time in the industry that partners want a face-to-face relationship, a strict deal registration programme that we will strictly adhere to, and for us to be involved as early as possible in the sales cycle. That's what we can offer partners."

Gurdip Kalley, business development manager at S3, said his company plans to use Nimble's technology to rectify performance-related issues some customers experience during VDI and database deployments.

"Although this is the first time we have worked with Nimble, we have had past experience with its team and we are keen to work with them again," said Kalley. "Nimble's [type of technology] was previously only available as a multi-vendor, costly solution, and is very attractive to many of our customers."