Whiptail eyes growth with new UK VAR boss and SDG deal

Flash vendor on the hunt for more VARs after heaping praise on Softcat

Flash vendor Whiptail is on the hunt for more resellers as it looks to continue its UK growth with the help of newly signed distributor SDG.

The New Jersey-headquartered firm has put its growth in the UK channel so far partly down to the support of reseller Softcat, claiming that the VAR's approbation was a "turning point" for the company.

The vendor, which was established four years ago, launched in EMEA at the start of 2012 with three partners, but has grown to secure 45 across the region, 25 of which are based in the UK.

Whiptail has recently hired the former EMC, Veeam and VMware channel head Sally Reade to lead its UK channel, which EMEA general manager Brian Feller claimed brings the firm additional credibility. The flash firm has also penned a deal with SDG, which it claims to be a "tremendous company".

The storage vendor says its channel has been "amazing" in helping the firm secure venture capital funding, and singled out Softcat as a key partner.

Speaking at VMworld, Feller told ChannelWeb: "Softcat was one of our first partners in the UK... and now it does not just resell our product, but we won a managed services contract too. It is not just a reseller, it is now our biggest client as well.

"Working with Softcat is a badge of honour. Now we have invested [in the UK channel], we are getting so many leads through from them."

Feller added that his firm does not compete with storage giants NetApp and EMC as its technology can be complementary.

He said: "We focus on the top 10 per cent of the datacentre. We are not asking partners to give up their NetApp and EMC relationships, that would be crazy. They are capacity players and we only operate in the top 10 per cent, so we do not compete; we are doing the stuff they cannot do, and partners are realising that."

Feller, who worked at Citrix for six years, said Whiptail is set to launch a series of channel programmes in the coming months, and that its strategy will differ from that of the big vendors.

"The channel is in our blood... we built the channel programme so that it is malleable. In my years at Citrix, its channel programme, and [those of] other vendors, say ‘you need to fit into my model'. We are created on understanding what a VAR's business is," he added.