As organizations continue to generate new types of valuable data, there is an increasing need to retain data and maintain visibility and access to it. However, keeping all that data on high-performance disk is proving cost-prohibitive and difficult to manage. Quantum, which has a long-standing reputation with the channel community, helps companies meet this problem head-on by reducing both operating and capital costs with the help of its trained and specialist channel partners.
In a recent interaction with Channel Times, Jim Simon, Vice President of Global Field and Channel Marketing, Quantum Corp., explains the new trends in enterprise storage technologies, why channel partners play such an important role to the vendor, touting them as the ‘easiest to work with’ and how Quantum is boosting sales for channel while continuously solving storage related problems for its customers.
CT: What according to you are some of the new trends in enterprise storage technologies?
Jim Simon: Quantum serves a diverse set of vertical markets ranging from media and entertainment, to geospatial, to autonomous vehicles. These, and many other verticals, all have in common the fact that they are generating substantial, record-breaking, amounts of video and rich media. Their missions depend upon their data. In turn, their missions rely on storage that is optimized for video and rich media ingest, protection, sharing, and archive. Technologies like Quantum StorNext help customers capture, edit, protect, share, and archive their video and rich media while minimizing costs for the long run. We continue to improve every aspect of our StorNext ecosystem to maximize performance and reliability while driving down costs through smart uses of archive tape, the cloud, or a mix.
CT: How do channel partners play an important role in your business?
Jim Simon:Quantum has a long-standing reputation for being a vendor with excellent channel integrity. We have been awarded five stars by CRN in the US for the past six years given Quantum’s investment in our channel partners. Without our channel partners, Quantum would be unable to reach such a diverse set of customers. Quantum’s channel partners are trusted by 100,000+ end user organizations in India and across the globe. Quantum’s channel partners help develop solutions to our joint customers’ most difficult data challenges. Quantum’s channel partners also provide installation, integration, and ongoing management, customized for each customer’s needs.
CT: Can you explain Quantum’s channel ecosystem in India.
Jim Simon: Quantum has offices in New Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore. From our offices, we work with local, authorized channel partners to jointly develop new opportunities, close sales, and deliver ongoing support. We look for channel partners who have unique skill sets; are eager to learn new skills; and share Quantum’s commitment to customer satisfaction.
CT: What are the latest initiatives taken by the company to boost channel sales?
Jim Simon: Inside Quantum, we like to say that if there was a sixth star to be earned in channel vendor surveys, Quantum would earn a sixth star. To this end, we are in the midst of a top to bottom upgrade of our channel partner program, Quantum Alliance. We recently refreshed our channel partner portal to provide more sales tools in an easier to find manner; we rolled out syndication which allows Quantum channel partners to offer Quantum solutions on their own websites by simply linking to a special page on Quantum Alliance; we have increased our webinars and training programs—all of which are posted for on-demand viewing; and last but certainly not least, we are in the process of refreshing our campaign materials so that channel partners can quickly and easily generate new opportunities by leveraging proven campaigns developed by Quantum.
CT: What is the channel roadmap in the next 12-18 months?
Jim Simon: Quantum just finished a global survey of our channel partners to ask them what we are doing well, and what we could do better so as to influence our channel roadmap. Our channel partners had great things to say. 90%, for example, said that the Quantum Alliance program is not missing any features. A majority of our channel partners said that we are easier or the easiest vendor to do business with. A similar majority expect to grow their sales of Quantum solutions in 2019.
In consideration of our channel partners’ feedback, Quantum will be implementing a new deal registration application that should make applying for deal reg as simple as using one’s phone while waiting to order coffee in a café. Ultimately, our goals are to enable partners and to make Quantum their easiest vendor to do business with.