Life in the channel
PREDICTABILITY, NOT PERKS
In this in-depth conversation, Alex Walsh, Regional VP of Channel for EMEA North at Keepit, discusses the company’s shift to a 100% channel model, the misconceptions still lingering around SaaS data protection, and why consistency is the currency partners value most.
You’ve moved from a major vendor to Keepit. What motivated that shiſt, and what does your role now involve? I’m the Regional Vice President for EMEA North, which covers the UK and Ireland, the Nordics, Benelux and Central Eastern Europe, and a handful of additional countries. My remit is to lead a team of channel professionals who run their regional go-to-market strategies. What attracted me to Keepit was the chance to do something
genuinely different. I didn’t want to join another vendor doing the same things in the same way. When I researched Keepit, spoke to people in the industry, and went through the interview process, I got this real sense of excitement, almost a childlike enthusiasm, from the people here about what the channel could become for the business. Keepit historically didn’t work with partners, so they didn’t have the
frameworks, but over the last couple of years, they’ve built meaningful relationships with some tremendous partners across the UK, Ireland, and the wider region. I’d been hearing Keepit’s name a lot, and their stance on data sovereignty and their focus on pure SaaS data protection made them stand out for me. And because Keepit owns its stack within the data centre, they’re
able to be disruptive, nimble, and genuinely partner-centric – and that combination was compelling. Partners are actually very simple to work with when you boil it
down. Tey want: • Good technology – something customers want to buy and
www.pcr-online.biz something they can trust won’t damage their reputation.
• High profitability – and not just in year one. Because Keepit owns its stack and operates on ARR, partners maintain strong margins year aſter year, including on renewals and expansions.
• Ease of doing business – which is oſten overlooked. It doesn’t need to be glamorous; it’s about doing the basics well, consistently, and reliably.
Tat’s what I’ve always focused on in my career, and it’s what Keepit is building its channel identity around. We’re not trying to be the vendor that throws incentives at partners at the end of a quarter. We’re trying to be the vendor that partners trust over the long term.
What’s the biggest misconception partners still have about SaaS data protection? Te biggest one used to be the belief that Microsoſt protects your data in Microsoſt 365. Five or six years ago, when organisations were moving aggressively to M365 and later Entra ID, the shared responsibility model wasn’t widely understood. Microsoſt is responsible for uptime, not for your data aſter the standard retention period. Risks such as human error, cyberattacks and accidental deletion sit with the customer. Microsoſt has become more vocal about this, and the market is
more educated now, but confusion still exists. In fact, the shared responsibility model applies to most SaaS applications, including
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