GEC NEWS WIREAnalysts and vendors have been skeptical about the market and its slump, however Mimecast emerges as a strong competitor in the Middle East and African region, thanks to their marketing drills, visionary outlook and new developments. In conversation with Brandon Bekker, Managing Director, Mimecast MEA.
Escalation of Mimecast in ME
Mimecast has just established its ground presence in Middle East but has been an active trader in the region for over 8 years, as Brandon Bekker, Managing Director, Mimecast MEA says, “We’ve been in this region, opportunistically and tactically, nothing strategic in terms of investment.” The vast customer base and catering to the ever increasing demands of the clients in South Africa and UK made the organization establish a base in UAE. Brandon feels my making an investment in this region they sure can tap the market and have a considerable amount of share. Mimecast’s entry after 8 years in the region is worth a notice, Brandon explains the reason why it too them so long to establish a base in Middle East, he said, “The main drive is that the Africa business needs to grow at a certain rate and we see more opportunities in Middle East than Africa. The economic conditions are more favorable in this region. In South Africa we hold a very dominant market position which means we have nearly ended the runway of opportunities. We can grow faster in Middle East and therefore our focus will remain on GCC, South Africa, Kenya, Tanzania.” Cyber-attacks in the Middle East region are prolific and as a result the IT spend in the region has increased.
An edge above the rest
In order to survive the competition one needs to prepare and face the challenges the dynamic market instills. Mimecast’s entry in such a saturated market surely raises eyebrows on the company’s product portfolio and what makes it unique. Brandon says, “We have set up an operations centre here to provide services, one doesn’t have to go anywhere else to get these services. We have extremely high industry leading customer satisfaction scores. Our technology itself is very strong, even as per Gartner quadrant we are leaders, our technology is also validated by industry analysts. We are the fastest growing when it comes to our services globally. We retain 111% revenue YoY, partners like that, so when they sell our services it is for long term. Our platform is unique, built 13 years ago born in the cloud, single platform all on our IP and that’s unique, none of our competitors have that.” Mimecast claims that it can develop software quickly in cases of new threats, and can deliver services quickly to deliver advantage.
Clarity in vision- enhanced solutions?
Mimecast’s email archiving solution is quite popular, but there are vendors providing end-to-end services when it comes to security. Aware of its positioning, Mimecast’s way of survival is a little diverse. Brandon feels that a company’s emails and their information is the most important currency they have, that’s the reason Mimecast doesn’t want to divert it’s focus elsewhere and provide the best email archiving solution. Providing better SLAs, deeper development in technology with R&D is what keeps Mimecast on its toes. Every region differs and therefore getting a closer look in its functioning is crucial. The region faces challenges in terms of malware attacks and other kind of threats. Brandon said, “When customers choose their vendor there needs to be a trust factor and that takes time. Our customers act as our spokesperson in the market and regions we operate. 90% of our sales requires our interaction with the clients since we deal with sensitive data.”
Mission: Future Possible
Mimecast sees an opportunity in almost all the verticals of the region. “We want to initially cater to the verticals who require email archiving solutions, might be Oil and Gas, retail, hospitality etc.” Mimecast is taking part in GITEX along with its partner Bulwark to showcase their new product line. Brandon concluded his take on the entire hacking scenario by stating that 91% attacks happen through emails. With every organization investing on their email operations this definitely poses a threat to the overall working.
Mimecast’s intrinsic world of email archiving solutions and security definitely creates curiosity among customers who want to make sure their most valuable asset is free from the potent threats.
