Veeam Tackles Channel Conflict, Boosting Partner Sales

Veeam says a campaign to “increase harmony” with its strategic alliance partners is paying off for the channel. It claims efforts to “eliminate perceived channel conflict” have resulted in greater channel sales.

The vendor has unified its messaging and “taken away a lot of the hassle” for partners dealing with multiple companies. This has resulted in an upsurge in channel business based on strategic alliance partners such as AWS, NetApp and HPE.

David Harvey is vice president of strategic alliances at Veeam. He said there’s been “a lot more harmonisation with the channel and a lot less tension” over the past year.

Veeam’s David Harvey

“The channel likes the fact that we’re unifying the message,” said Harvey. “You’ve got these large titans of industry asking them to push their products as well, then you’ve got Veeam on our side. Partners have said, ‘We don’t want disparate channel programs coming at us from the alliances to confuse us or have us in competing cycles.’”

Calmer Channel

“Extremely strong” is how, without disclosing figures, Harvey described partner business growth based on strategic alliance products and services. European partners, in particular, have embraced the ‘three party’ type solution, he said.

“The growth rate of the channel utilising a lot of our alliance relationships is well above the growth rate of the company. That understanding of how we all tie together in this complex tapestry of ‘frenemies’ and technology partners has become a lot calmer.”

Harvey used the example of Veeam’s partnership with NetApp, which the company announced last week at its user event, VeeamON.

“We’re working very closely with that channel team to say, ‘Where are you spearheading initiatives with the channel? How are we doing? Let’s go in together so we were delivering much better enablement.’

Harvey also said that in terms of procuring the technology, partners should do what is best for their business.

“Partners probably already have an agreement with an HPE or NetApp or Cisco or a Lenovo,” said Harvey. “We’re saying you don’t need to start splitting out your orders if that doesn’t work for a unified position for your business.

“If you’re doing a big environment with one of our strategic alliances which allow you to buy the Veeam products from them as well, you’ve got that single supply chain position. That can be beneficial for you drawing down against their partner programmes — because they’ve got some big commitments with some of these guys. But you still get all the support from Veeam. We’re looking to eliminate any perceived channel conflict.”

Program Updates on the Horizon

Elsewhere, Daniel Fried, GM and SVP, worldwide channels, hinted at upcoming updates to Veeam’s partner program. These will reflect a stronger focus on specialisations and specific technologies.

“We cannot have a program which is the program that we’ve had for years,” he said. “We see there is a big push to help partners specialise on different types of products, technologies or services. Also, to help the partners develop some competencies and be capable of answering the needs of their customers.”

Worldwide, Veeam has 30,000 active partners, with more than 15,000 in Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA).