NetApp bares its teeth on flash

'No more Mr Nice Guy', claims northern EMEA boss Dave Allen

NetApp has vowed to "kill those little dogs that are biting our ankles" in the flash market, but admitted it needs to do a better job of making the technology seem more "sexy" to partners and customers.

At its Partner Executive Forum in Warsaw, flash storage has been a key topic, as well as the start-up companies which are cashing in on selling the tech – often at the big boys' expense. Figures last week from IDC show the storage market is being driven by smaller firms as the storage giants flounder.

But NetApp insists it is holding its own against the competition.

"[Let's] talk about the little speedboats out there," said Thomas Ehrlich, vice president of partners and pathways EMEA in his keynote speech. "Those small flash companies... you guys think they are eating our lunch – they are not. They are definitely not. They are growing at sizes that are microscopic compared to the market. Don't give them a chance. NetApp is not letting you down. If you look at the performance [of our tech]... it is really, really, really fast."

The firm announced that later this month, its MSB [medium-sized and small business] partners would get access to financial incentives when selling flash kit. Ehrlich said this was part of a campaign at NetApp to boost its flash credentials – which he admitted the firm has not always been great at doing.

"Yes, we have to do a better job at selling it 'sexy', but that is not down to the product. It is up to us," he said. Ehrlich later admitted in a media Q&A session that the marketing and incentive push should have happened about six or eight months sooner, but added this is easier to see with hindsight.

He said his efforts to "sell it sexy" would revolve around investment in partners.

"Certainly budget is required and we are putting it in," he said. "We are incentivising our resellers with rebates to do so. But I think the real thing is focus.

"We are going to proactively push flash technology to the limit. Our technology is good enough, the ecosystem is good enough – the resellers are waiting for it."

Sven Schoenaerts, EMEA channel sales director, who unveiled the MSB flash incentive, said the move would help in its bid to "absolutely to kill those little dogs that are biting at our ankles".

Dave Allen, NetApp's general manager for northern EMEA, was equally aggressive on the flash front and defended Ehrlich's admission that the marketing and incentive drive should have come sooner.

"Thomas' comments relate to 'should we have incentivised sooner?' – you can always say yes," he said. "Everyone loves to have incentives and other bits and pieces.

"But we've had massive growth in our flash portfolio – massive growth. I don't think it's anything to apologise for. We were very focused on telling the [data] fabric story... and if you go at too many things, you create confusion, so we needed clarity around that and what we're standing for. Now, within that fabric, flash is a fit. A year or 18 months ago, you'd look at it and say 'is NetApp's strategy clear?' and now I think we are pretty damn clear.

"We are going to execute the hell out of [flash] with our partners and I am really looking forward to that – [we're] aggressive and focused. I'll just say: no more Mr Nice Guy. We want to make sure we are taking the fight out there. There's a market to be had."