Interview
development of proactive risk management strategies that ensure their infrastructure ambitions aren’t hampered.
Many partners are moving away from single-vendor dependency. How is StorMagic responding to this shiſt? Te disruption set in motion by VMware and Broadcom continues to unfold. As a consequence, customers and partners are much more cautious when it comes to selecting vendors to work with. Having experienced with Broadcom just how quickly licensing terms and support structures can change, they are asking tough questions and expect much greater visibility into vendor operations. Architected from the ground up to be small, efficient, reliable and
cost-effective, and with a soſtware-only solution that will run on any x86 hardware – and a diversity of hardware platforms going forward – we are investing in our varied and growing portfolio of OEM partnerships that support rapid imaging, shipping and deployment of SvHCI-powered servers. Tis gives partners and their customers the confidence of knowing we offer the industry’s broadest choice of hardware platforms supporting virtualised workloads outside of the enterprise data centre.
What does trust look like in the channel today, especially when economic pressures are high? Short-term vendor incentives no longer hold the same weight. Customers and partners want transparent communications, evidence of reliability and a clear commitment to steady behaviour should conditions shiſt. Tey also want shorter-term agreements that will limit risk in an uncertain economy. In today’s risk-heightened landscape, trust is built on how you
act and behave. For us, that means showing up, listening without defensiveness, acting consistently and genuinely engaging with customers and their trusted channel partners.
How do you maintain long-term partnership confidence when customers are delaying or downsizing projects? We believe it’s possible to grow, even in the hardest of conditions. Our mission is to deliver practical and reliable virtualisation that is ideal for customers looking to simplify their increasingly complex IT environments. In that respect, we offer a compelling value proposition for partners that need to help customers address their edge computing and data management requirements in these challenging economic times. We also offer creative and practical support for partners looking to salvage customer projects through a number of options. For example, we are actively assisting partners who are navigating
disruptions from VMware’s licensing changes by offering cost-effective alternatives, creative contractual terms, and free specialised migration tools that make it easy to export existing VMware VMs into our environment. In collaboration with our partners, we are also actively exploring the strategic potential made possible by our IP and the continued leveraging of proven open-source technologies.
What economic or technological signals are you watching most closely for in 2026, and how might they shape channel strategy? Te vendor dynamics tied to the expansion of AI datacentres globally represent the convergence of economic and technology signals. Te downstream impact on hardware cost and supply crosses all
www.pcr-online.biz March/April 2026 | 17
industries, partners and end customers. Tis is on top of general macroeconomic dynamics. Political decisions – tariffs are one thing, but shiſting availability of servers and components related to the demand from AI datacentres is a specific signal that is impacting the channel and end customers. Tis is where channel relationships with hardware vendors that
have deep relationships with component manufacturers matter greatly. Tere is a race for access to supply and the assurance of pricing in a volatile market, so the channel needs to understand who has the relationships that will keep supply available and protect order values to meet the needs of their customers. We also anticipate further acceleration to smaller devices to manage the risk of ongoing hardware cost increases.
What is the biggest market opportunity that StorMagic will address with its channel partners in 2026? Our go-to-market strategy for 2026 is designed to further invest in our distribution-to-reseller-to-end user model and further extend market reach through vertical industry sector focus. By investing in new routes to vertical markets, we will deliver new opportunities that will benefit our channel partners. We are committed to enabling our partners to propose end-to-end solutions that are reliable, performative, easy to manage and respectful of budgets. We understand that workloads vary, particularly by industry and therefore virtualisation deployment scenarios vary. Because of this, we are continually adapting our portfolio of solutions to provide the most flexibility in the market, while retaining our deep focus on distinguishing edge virtualisation needs from enterprise data centre virtualisation.
If you could give channel partners one piece of advice for navigating the next 12-18 months, what would it be? Get creative. Te world has changed, and channel partners must change with it. Help your customers find solutions to the problems they’re facing and remember that innovation doesn’t have to die with hardware availability. While the unpredictable nature of hardware supply represents the current top challenge, channel partners will need to look at their portfolios, ensure their vendors are adapting their solutions, and focus on delivering purpose-built solutions that represent a fit for the evolving business needs of their customers.
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