Violin takes aim at EMC and Oracle market share

New kid on the flash memory array block targets rivals as it looks to grab $20m market opportunity through channel partners

Storage market young gun Violin Memory has issued a war cry to its more established rivals as it looks to grab market share.

The fast-growing flash memory array vendor is already valued at $800m (£492m), recently secured $50m in Series D funding and has bold plans for the European market with its launch of 3000 and 6000 memory flash arrays.

It already has the backing of industry heavyweights including SAP, Toshiba and Juniper Networks.

Speaking to CRN, Don Basile, chief executive of Violin, said the firm was gunning for EMC and Oracle’s hardware business. “Anyone considering buying anything from EMC or the hardware division of Oracle should reach out to us or one of our partners. We believe that in almost every case, we will offer higher performance and lower costs.”

Basile said the firm operates a 100 per cent indirect sales strategy and is in "hyper-growth mode".

“We are continuing to expand our global sales presence and there will more products coming from us at a faster pace,” he added.

The firm recently announced its first EMEA resellers, with three of the eight from the UK: Softcat, Viadex and Mobius Business Technologies.

Garry Veale, EMEA managing director at Violin, said the UK market was a critical part of its strategy.

“We have a total of 40 people across Europe now, with 20 of those coming from the UK, and we will shortly be announcing our next wave of partners, with over half of those from the UK as well.

“That shows how important the UK market is to our business,” he said. The firm is still interested in talking to potential new partners, Veale added.

“The whole flash memory marketplace is the fastest-growing market in IT right now. Customers are seeing that and partners are very keen to be on the bleeding edge. Because we are 100 per cent indirect, resellers can offer services and support around our products.”

Veale said the total storage market was worth between $40bn and $50bn. “$15bn to $20bn of that is accessible by us right now and we want to let potential partners and customers know this,” he said.