NetApp Australia targets EMC’s top spot

NetApp reshuffled its distribution strategy last year after signing Distribution Central at the expense of previous partnerships with LAN 1 and Avnet. The deal ignited Distribution Central’s storage practice and refocused NetApp’s channel strategy.

Six months on and NetApp believes its new channel direction has reaped benefits it can continue to leverage in the local market.

“Our A/NZ business grew 70 percent year-on-year in 2007 and that is compared to a global NetApp growth rate of between 25 and 28 percent,” said Scott Morris, director of partner sales A/NZ at NetApp. “Our challenge is extending [our reach], while keeping our current relationships. We will use and rely on our partnerships to drive us forward.”

Morris said after coming out of the back of such a “fantastic year” in the A/NZ region, NetApp will also be adding a whole raft of additional resources behind its partner business.

Competitive battles were also on Morris’ agenda, after he confidently claimed: “In the next 12 to 18 months we expect to overtake EMC in the open systems storage marketplace in Australia and New Zealand. Currently we are firmly in the number two position.”

Scott Frew, CEO of Distribution Central, was equally optimistic about NetApp’s future fortunes. “The bottom line is that there is a buckle load of money to be made by the channel by offering NetApp,” he said. “We have 750 active resellers, but our channel is always evolving. When you come down the channel to the smaller guys who are acting as the trusted advisor offering – that is when it gets interesting.”