‘Our job is to make a hero of the CIO’: Commvault

A series of combined reseller and end user events are signifying a 'coming of age' for data management company CommVault, according to the events' key speaker.

Sal Fernando, director, Cloud Solutions Group APJ for CommVault, has been with the company for just eight months, having requested a job directly from APJ vice president Gerard Sillars last year.

He spoke in Auckland last night as part of an eight-stop roadshow that he says represents a 'seachange' for the company.

"We're showing we're now able to get people on board on our own marketing," Fernando says.

"We're big enough not to have to stand behind the hardware vendors anymore.

Combining resellers and end users together in one room is all part of the company's ethos of openness.

"We've got nothing to hide. We want everyone to be on the same page, so our messaging has to be united," Fernando says.

"That messaging is inherent to everything we do, it permeates all our meetings, everything.

It's also that openness that underlies the success of the company's 100% channel approach, which relies on resellers being willing to take the time to consult with customers and earn their trust.

"The approach has to be consultative. Rather than look at their needs and say here's a quote, we want to ask why they have those needs. Sometimes that means cutting off our nose to spite our face, but that's how we prove ourselves.

"Our job is to make a hero of the CIO, to empower them with information so that they can take it to the CFO.

Fernando adds that this approach has seen strong uptake in New Zealand, thanks to the 'maturity' of our reseller channel.

"The biggest challenge is getting people to change their minds, including partners.

"Simon [Probert, NZ country manager for CommVault] has done a great job of focusing our partners here.