PARTNERS ’ PERSPECTIVE
Part of the Lynchpin Media team , Manda Banda has more than 20 years of experience working for channel publications . He shares the knowledge he has learnt during that time in this monthly column for Intelligent Tech Channels .
The state of the enterprise storage market in MEA
Manda Banda is also Lynchpin Media ’ s Head of Strategic Content , Channel .
Enterprise storage is a centralised repository for business information that provides common data management , protection , and data sharing functions through connections to computer systems . What ’ s the state of the enterprise storage market in MEA and how can the partnering ecosystem bring its influence to yield dividends in this sought after market ?
The enterprise storage market in the Middle East and Africa ( MEA ) has seen and is forecasted to witness huge growth in the coming years , and the COVID-19 pandemic was in no doubt an accelerator of it . However , the market still requires infrastructure-led innovation where applications and policy-driven decisions are implemented . In addition , on-premises storage systems are still not benefitting as they should from hybrid cloud storage software and services ’ initiatives . As a result , enterprises are still dealing with extremely expensive storage systems and managing complex hardware storage , not to mention the rapid growth of new data that has increased security , compliance risk and data governance issues . This is an area where the channel can play an important role and bring their expertise to help customers overcome these challenges .
Given that the major sectors such as telecoms , healthcare , banking , financial services and insurance ( BFSI ) etc have started adopting the core technologies such as Artificial Intelligence ( AI ), Machine Learning ( ML ) and Internet of Things ( IoT ), the channel should focus on sustainable and innovative end-to-end storage and data management solutions and All Flash NVMe technologies which can offer modern data experiences with innovative cloud-ready solutions , performance , best-in-class support and holds up against ransomware attacks .
Partners that grasp this will reap huge rewards and have endless recurring revenue streams .
And as business requirements change in today ’ s fast-moving digital era , channel partners have a major role to play in anticipating , forecasting and addressing the market shifts even before the customer registers a need . By aligning IT needs to business objectives , you can orchestrate a host of tools and resources to analyse , evaluate and report on system health , providing personalised recommendations to you end user customers .
To truly optimise a server and network infrastructure , it ’ s key for your partner business to have a comprehensive and resilient approach that integrates existing
On-premises storage systems are still not benefitting as they should from hybrid cloud storage software and services ’ initiatives . solutions while simplifying storage offerings such as containerisation , software-defined storage and data protection .
Now , most vendors are showing commitment to partners ’ growth through the many new incentive stack frameworks that they are deploying or developing that recognise different partner roles and rewards as the channel increases its influence in the enterprise storage sector . That being the case , I believe it is the right move on the part of vendors to make these changes and help their partners to drive a healthier business and ensure they achieve higher returns on
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