Exclusive: How Commvault strengthens APAC partner ecosystem with strategic investments

Commvault has made significant strides in its channel strategy across the Asia Pacific (APAC) region with a series of investments designed to support partners and enhance cyber resilience for customers.

Jo Dean, Commvault's Area Vice President for Channels and Alliances in APAC, shared insights into the company's transformative journey since she joined 18 months ago.

With extensive experience before joining Commvault, Dean has brought her expertise to the forefront of the company's partner-focused initiatives.

"We made a deliberate effort to streamline and simplify our partner program," Dean explained. "We introduced programs to support partners' profitability and ensure they had the tools and enablement needed to succeed."

The company's efforts include new certification programs and sales enablement tools that equip partners to support clients navigating cyber resilience, AI advancements, and cloud transformations.

"Customers in APAC are facing unprecedented challenges," Dean said. "The rise of cyber incidents, AI developments, and cloud transformations are dominating conversations. Our role is to ensure our partners have the capabilities and resources to guide customers through these changes."

In October 2023, Commvault unveiled several initiatives at its annual Shift event in London, including acquisitions designed to enhance cloud security and recovery capabilities.

Notably, the acquisition of Clumio, now branded as Clumio Backtrack, has strengthened Commvault's AWS data protection capabilities.

"We've enhanced our partnerships with major cloud providers like Google Cloud, Microsoft, and AWS to support secure and rapid recovery," Dean added.

"Our focus is on helping customers minimize downtime and maintain data security."

Commvault also acquired the firm Appranix, now integrated as Cloud Rewind, which enables businesses to restore multi-cloud applications to a specific point in time following a cyberattack.

"This innovation dramatically reduces recovery time," Dean said. "It's crucial in addressing the gap between IT teams' recovery timelines and business leaders' expectations."

Recent studies by Commvault indicate that 62% of businesses in Australia and New Zealand have experienced a cyberattack in the past year, with only 10% able to identify what data was targeted.

"There's a massive disconnect between business leaders and IT teams," Dean explained. "Business leaders expect systems to recover in under five days, while IT teams report recovery times closer to 24 days. We are determined to close that gap."

To support partners in adapting to these challenges, Commvault has focused on expanding its Managed Services Provider (MSP) network and strengthening its security alliances. Dean highlighted the company's new partnership with CrowdStrike as a crucial step in improving insights and data protection capabilities.

"We remain dedicated to investing in a significant ecosystem of partners," Dean said. "This ensures we provide best-in-breed solutions to support partners in differentiating their businesses."

Education also plays a pivotal role in Commvault's partner strategy. Dean spoke about the Readyverse platform, launched to help partners and customers build their expertise in cloud resilience and cybersecurity.

"Our focus is to equip partners with the skills and knowledge to support their customers effectively," she said. "We want them to feel confident in driving conversations around continuous business and cyber resilience."

Commvault's vision has evolved from promoting business continuity to emphasizing "continuous business," ensuring partners and customers remain operational even during severe disruptions. This approach is built on four pillars: continuous security, readiness, recovery, and rebalance.

"Continuous rebalance allows businesses to move data between cloud environments like AWS and Azure with ease," Dean explained.

"That flexibility presents new challenges, but also ensures customers can stay resilient."

Looking ahead, Commvault plans to expand its partner profitability programs, continue investing in its MSP partnerships, and increase partner enablement support through regional events like Shift. The company is also launching a Partner Advisory Board in APAC to encourage direct collaboration between Commvault and its partners.

"We believe that bringing partners together to share experiences and insights is vital," Dean said.

"Face-to-face interactions offer invaluable opportunities for collaboration and learning."

Dean remains optimistic about the company's future, driven by an unwavering focus on supporting partners through education, innovation, and collaboration.

"We want our partners to feel confident in their ability to mitigate risks and help their customers thrive in a complex IT landscape," she said. "That's what truly excites me about the work we're doing."