Veritas: 'our resellers have been patient with us'
CRN sat down with Mark Nutt, senior vice president for EMEA at Veritas to discuss how resellers view the firm and what the channel can expect next
We've heard a lot in the last couple days at Veritas Vision about new products and some more global projections, but what is new for the UK region? The thing about the UK market is that we have some very big global customers there. Those firms understand the value of their data and protecting it. Over time we have seen the recognition that they might need multiple backup and recovery solutions. When you think about virtual platforms, the move to cloud, software-as-a-service and infrastructure-as-a-service, there is a desire to simplify all that. So our message at the moment around 360 data management is resonating in the UK, especially in the enterprise space. We are seeing a lot of our customers choosing to increase their investments with Veritas and consolidating how they go about data management, especially backup and recovery. There is a lot of focus in the UK and across Northern Europe around GDPR. There is a need to have greater visibility over data for EMEA customers. There has been a lot of engagement around how we can help with that type of problem. There are also a lot of customers who have moved to cloud and are now asking how we can help manage their data.
You mentioned GDPR; the conference has certainly had a lot of focus on that area. It seems to be an issue which has very much evolved past European borders… I went out to Israel and people there were saying 'we are not in the EU' and I asked them how many Israeli citizens have dual nationality and so how many are EU-based citizens? Plus, how many Israeli companies deal with EU citizens? If you are holding records in relation to any of those individuals, then this policy comes in and affects you. So I do think GDPR is clearly understood in the likes of the UK, France, Germany and the Netherlands and countries like that, but outside that it is less broadly understood. Customers are looking for partners to help them, but many of them are not naturally gravitating to technology firms yet. They are working with consultancy organisations and law firms.
What have been the key take-homes for resellers from Veritas Vision? I talked to some partners after a session and asked what they were taking from the event. They said 'confidence'; the idea that Veritas is a confident company. We are confident about the technology and confident about what we are bringing to market and the partnerships that will enable us to be successful. This in turn leaves resellers confident in what they are bringing to market and that they can take that and deliver value to customers and make money with us.
How does that compare with the feedback you have received from resellers in the past? They have been very patient with Veritas. Patient during the period we were owned by Symantec, patient through the separation. They are looking for an opportunity to monetise our partnership with them. Some of the feedback is 'you are bringing a lot of new technology to market, you have to help us, enable us and reward us'. A lot of the new technologies we are bringing to market require services and lot of our partners are interested in how they can train their staff on it.
Looking forwards, what can resellers expect from Veritas in the next 12 months? They should expect growth. They should expect us to be much more visible in the market. Since we separated from Symantec we are building our presence. Those resellers should expect to grow with us, if they are committed to us.