Q&A With GreenBytes VP, EMEA, Paul Silver
Posted by Michael Robinson on Wed, Feb 08, 2012 @ 12:40 PM
Paul Silver recently joined GreenBytes and serves as VP, EMEA where he is responsible for driving GreenBytes sales and channel activities throughout the region, as well as overseeing the management of the company’s offices in London, UK. I recently sat down with Paul to discuss his new position with GreenBytes and what he hopes to accomplish in 2012.
Welcome to GreenBytes! We're thrilled to have you. Can you tell us a bit about your role with the company?
My role is to build a profitable sales organisation business for GreenBytes across EMEA. We have amazing products so I’ll do that by leveraging the reach and capabilities of the Channel.
Your background includes a role as VP of EMEA with EqualLogic. There are certainly some similarities between EqualLogic and GreenBytes; what do you view as the key differentiating factors between what you were doing back in the EqualLogic days, vs. GreenBytes' current approach, both from a technical/product and business standpoint?
When EqualLogic was conceived, the team had the benefit of ‘hindsight’ if you will, of being able to review the storage offerings that were available at that time and then develop a solution from the ground up that could do things better. NetApp had the same opportunity several years earlier, but it is not easy for the incumbent vendors to respond to newer technologies because they are committed to what is essentially older architecture and higher prices. The bright team at GreenBytes have had the benefit of this ‘hindsight’ and having evaluated the current storage landscape (which now includes EqualLogic) and with a blank sheet of paper, have created a very disruptive solution packed with features that others don’t (or can’t) have, and blistering performance. It offers amazing value for the money and is set to take the storage market by storm.
GreenBytes recently started shipping the HA-3000 HA iSCSI SAN. What have you been hearing from partners and customers as to the anticipation of this appliance, the first from GreenBytes that provides true HA.
We have a backlog of orders from Partners and End Users and have experienced enormous interest from both alike. One Partner confided by saying that the interest in GreenBytes creates by far the majority of responses to their demand creation activities.
GreenBytes sells its products exclusively through the channel. How do you view the channel in EMEA and in what ways do you plan to engage and maintain key channel relationships that will propel GreenBytes forward in 2012 and beyond?
I firmly believe in the power of the Channel and know that it will be key to GreenBytes' success. In my mind, the definition of a successful sale is a sale that it is good for ALL parties. Good for the End User because they get all the benefits of a GreenBytes storage solution PLUS the value added services that our specially selected Partners provide such as Consultancy and Support. Good for our Partners because apart from the incredible interest in GreenBytes and the obvious margin that can be made from selling solutions, their delighted customers will inevitably purchase additional GreenBytes storage at a later stage.
What is your key objective for 2012?
My key objective is simple – to put GreenBytes firmly on the map in EMEA by leveraging the power of the Channel and our game-changing technology to take market share from the traditional storage vendors. Watch this space!
