Tandberg acquisition to prompt Overland aggression
Recently acquired Tandberg Data's Chinese manufacturing capabilities key to combined growth
Overland Storage is likely going to get more aggressive in its go-to-market activities, particularly through the reseller channel, after it closes the acquisition over Germany-based Tandberg Data in December.
Last week Overland Storage, based in San Diego, announced the all-stock acquisition of Tandberg Data, giving it access to enterprise-grade data protection and storage management solutions, as well as manufacturing capacity in China.
The combined company will have more than $100m (£64.46m) in annual revenue and a global channel network of more than 16,000 partners. Its recently appointed head of global sales, Lisa Loe, is a channel veteran, having held channel and sales positions at Symantec, McAfee and Good Technologies.
Overland Data says the acquisition provides a clear path to profitability for both companies. This is likely a sign that the company, which has posted a series of losses and has been under scrutiny by the Securities and Exchange Commission, will get more aggressive in its regional and global channels.
"The Overland and Tandberg combination will accelerate our strategy of becoming a global leader in the data management and data protection industry," said Overland Storage chief executive Eric Kelly.
"The combined company will offer one of the broadest product lines and service offerings in the enterprise storage marketplace, and have the resources necessary to expand our market presence, fuel our growth and deliver innovative products and cloud offerings in the future," Kelly added.
Sources at Overland Storage say the gem in the acquisition is Tandberg's manufacturing capabilities in China, which will provide the combined company with greater ability to source product for global sales and a foothold for selling in the growing Chinese market.
The storage market remains one of the hottest segments in the IT marketplace. Legacy storage vendors such as EMC and NetApp continue to expand their product offerings to include greater management and data protection capabilities. Networking and PC companies such as Cisco, Lenovo and Dell are leveraging storage assets to augment their revenue and provide channel partners with new opportunities.
Overland Storage's new assets will provide it with new revenue sources and ability to compete against larger vendors. The difference maker could be its surprisingly large channel network that could propel access to new markets and customers. Watch for Overland to make some channel moves early in 2014.
Larry Walsh is president and chief executive officer at Channelnomics.
As part of our special editorial partnership, CRN is republishing this article from Channelnomics.