Enterprise storage has dynamically evolved over the years to cater to the rising volumes of data. One such radical transformation is being seen in the field of ‘copy data management’, which tech vendors like Actifio has pioneered to address the storage explosion with a totally new approach to manage copy data across enterprise.
Give us an overview of how Actifio started and why did you chose to focus on data storage business?
Started in July 2009, Actifio is a third venture for me. Since I have led the HP Storage business in the past, data storage is a zone of comfort and a market that I know very well. Besides, I have been in this market for the last 25 years or in a way, from the very beginning of the storage days. I was involved in the very first specifications of storage and when the storage first came out in the market, I built the very first disc array in the world. I have been in this business for a very long time and not only understand the business but also the technology as well as the buyers.
Each of my companies led the evolution of the storage market. First one was all about this new network and storage on fibre channel. Then, it was about better management of storage devices, etc. I consider myself very fortunate that I came in very early into this market. Along with me, the investment group that I was part of, I had other colleagues who were much more open-minded and smarter wherein they invested in Facebook and LinkedIn. But I could never understand this approach. Instead I am an old-fashioned guy wherein I want something that could add value.
At the end of the day, people call it data center and not server or network center. Hence, it is all about data and from the very beginning, it was always about data. This is a market which has a long cycle and a lot of innovations keep happening in this domain.
Where do you see your scheme of things fitting into this changing ecosystem and market dynamics?
Actifio is all about data and we don’t expect to become anything more than the core value proposition of what we understand very well i.e. data. Any place where data is created, there will be an Actifio component to manage it whether it’s in the mobile, cloud, data center, server, and laptop. This is our big vision.
The reality is that’s where the information is lying along with the entire value. Today, we are just talking about better business resiliency and faster access to information. But pretty soon, you will hear us talk about life sciences analytics, retail analytics, and better manufacturing analytics.
You talk a lot about ‘copy data’. What does this really entail to?
It is very simple to understand. For example, when you click a picture from your mobile phone, it is on this device lies the original data. Then through iCloud, it goes to your iPad and Mac and then you post in on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and other places. All those are copies of data. And they all have their own life. So, instead of all those guys manage themselves, what if in the enterprise space, there is one place from Actifio where you have your own copy and other copy is here and everybody uses and shares this same information. We will manage the life of this copy and it is the ability to use the same copy for many things allows you to not buy more storage space. There is a ‘golden’ copy that can be used for many applications.
Copy data truly solves the problem created by the storage explosion including the unmet SLAs, extended recovery times, complex IT environments, and labor intensive IT management requirements.
How does Actifio help its customers get rid off the likes of EMCs, IBMs, and NetApps of the world?
Earlier, it was infrastructure centric model where bringing up an application was very expensive. Since application was running on a server, and if you want to make these applications run, you bring the data to the applications. And each of the applications was from different vendors like EMC, IBM, and NetApp. And at the top everything, cloud has taken precedence, wherein your application is free and coming up instantly. So, instead of moving the data, how about move the application to where data is residing. And the data is Actifio.
As long as you put the right data ready and bring the application immediately, you cut out the entire process of moving the data. The killer is in moving the data. Bringing the application is free because it is virtualized. Hence, the whole theory is stop doing this movement of data, as it is cheap and instant to bring up application and for this customers do need to have a new storage system. All you have to make sure is that right data is available. The trick is to make storage system look like it’s in the time you wanted it to be. This is the beauty of what we try to do. It is like enterprise time machine.
What’s your vision for Actifio?
We are going through a very interesting phase. Till five years ago, if you would ask me, then it was likely to get acquired. People acquire companies for a very simple reason. For example, if I am acquiring your company which is selling $10, then I can make it sell $100 because I am connected to the customer. But this is not the case anymore. From the industry point of view, customers don’t care about buying from IBM or Cisco. They are kind of ancient companies who are putting billions in the cloud.If I don’t have control over my customers, then it is impossible for me to acquire you as I am not able to create the value that is being given by the global players. We are exactly in the same position. Hence, this is an exciting time where the existing guard and leaders are under pressure and seize that people like us will go and become billionaires. Today, new leaders have started emerging globally and the existing players are getting eclipsed by the new set of players. We see an opportunity of being one of the new leaders.
Today, when the application is going into the cloud and infrastructure is getting virtualized, we see an opportunity that there is a big whole in between and we could become this application centric data management engine that every application will talk to because the customers don’t know where the infrastructure is.
Which are the areas where you are making investments currently?
We are making investments in two big areas. First is the go-to-market that includes sales, support, and services. We need sales and field engineering kind of resources. Today, not too many people are aware about ‘copy data’ but to make it happen a couple of years down the line, I need people in the field to go and sell it to enough of the large customers. We are almost doubling or tripling the number of people in all the 31 countries we are currently present in.
Secondly, if you want to become this middle engine, we need people to succeed with Actifio. If you are a customer of Actifio, you will have somebody who will show up once or twice a week just to say how things are going and is there any kind of assistance required. This whole customer success management is about managing a patient to be healthy rather than to be sick. We make investments so that our customers are proactively being managed and in the process, we are just trying to meet customers’ expectations. Today, customers want service levels and pay you by the outcomes and not the boxes.
After the US, which is the biggest market for Actifio?
For us, it is the UK and Germany markets that come after the US. It is followed by Australia and Japan. And after these four countries, Middle East & Africa region falls under our purview as well as the priority list. However, out of the 31 countries that we are currently present in, we don’t sell in either China or India. It is because if you talk about China and India, then both of them are big markets but there vendors don’t seem to make any money.
As far as the Middle East and Africa region is concerned, we have registered triple digit growth in the past and will continue to do so in the next 3-4 years at least. We have a direct presence in this region with our company registered in Dubai. Besides, we are hiring resources in South Africa and Saudi Arabia.
