Tough market conditions, as well as a strategic decision, led enterprise storage company EMC to rely heavily on the channel for its 2008 growth targets.
According to Prem Pather, EMC channel manager, "channel business has, for the first time, become a critical and cooperative part of EMC's internal sales team".
He says EMC realised there is simply no way it can muster the resources, including manpower and intellectual capability, to reach the markets it wants to, hence the focus on the channel.
EMC has experienced double-digit growth for the past five years and, in 2007, achieved a 19% growth rate. The channel business translated to 37% of the total EMC SA revenue and the company wants this figure to almost double in the year ahead to 60%.
While high inflation and the volatile exchange rate are challenges in achieving this target, says Pather, "the substantial growth within SA and the neighbouring countries allows EMC to be bullish to achieve [its targets]".
Puleng Technologies is one of the channel partners expected to deliver on EMC's growth targets. Puleng MD Paul Thompson says aside from legislative requirements for data protection, many companies are realising that effective data protection has a direct impact on sustainability and the productivity of their staff.
"Storage is an increasingly complex discipline which depends on not just appropriate products, but also on the design and configuration of solutions to meet the specific requirements of various businesses," says Thompson.
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