KVS on hunt for regional channels

Email archiving and content management outfit KVS is on the hunt for regional reseller partners on the back of an aggressive growth plan one year after hitting Australian shores.

KVS' flagship product -- Enterprise Vault -- is server-based email archiving software claimed to reduce the ongoing cost of email storage. The aim is to bring control to mailbox management and optimise the backup and recovery cycle.

The software was originally developed by the old Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC). It continued to be sold following Compaq's acquisition of DEC, but was eventually spun out via a management buyout and KVS was born.

Bjorn Engelhardt, the newly appointed Asia-Pacific regional director at KVS and a former Citrix Australia channel director, said the company was looking to recruit several regional partners to complement its existing national partner base.

The company wants an additional two to three partners in NSW and Victoria and a couple to cover the QLD and South Australian markets, said Engelhardt.

Last week, the company appointed Citrix shop Regal Information Technology as its newest channel partner. It already has arrangements with global players such as Dimension Data, CSC, HP and EDS. ASX-listed Brisbane-based integrator Data #3 also sells its products and services.

KVS sells direct to its reseller base, a strategy that gives partners the best opportunity to make higher margins, according to Engelhardt. 'We want to make sure the partners that we do work with have enough opportunity to make money out of this,' he said.

KVS' accreditation and training program involves prospective partners attending a two-day training course with an exam at the end, Engelhardt said.
He claimed that many companies don't understand the difference between backup and archiving. Companies back up their data to ensure operational security and business continuity, while archiving -- where KVS plays -- is about restoring information and keeping it for a defined period of time.

KVS has around 30 customers in Australia, the majority of which are companies with 2000-plus staff. Appointing regional partners would assist the company to move downscale and grab a share of the local SME market.

Earlier this month, KVS made several new staff appointments. It hired former Citrix channel sales manager Tim Blumentals as territory manager for NSW and Michael Tristram as territory manager for the Southern region taking over channel and enterprise sales in Victoria.