The vendor also intends opening offices within the next year in Kuwait, Qatar, Egypt and Pakistan in addition to the ones that have already been established in the UAE and Saudi Arabia.
Alberto Soto, VP, EMEA at Brocade says: “Despite a general perception that the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) is still grappling with recessionary market conditions, research done by IDC, Gartner and other analysts indicate that there is ongoing growth in the market, though not as fast paced as before. The region is an emerging market in which telecom service providers and large enterprises, both of paramount importance to Brocade’s business interests, are experiencing strong growth”.
“The Middle East contributes significantly to Brocade’s EMEA revenue and, in particular, CEMA revenue, which goes to show how important this market is strategically for the company. In the past we have managed to secure some large and prestigious projects involving big-name clients such as Al Nahdi Medical Company (NMC) and Saudi Economic and Development Holding Company (SEDCO). The acceptance of our value proposition is encouraging, which is why Brocade is looking to make substantial investments in this region”, Soto adds.
Brocade dominates the Storage Area Networking (SAN) market in the Middle East, with a market share of over 72%. With the acquisition of Foundry Networks in 2008, Brocade is now focusing on increasing its share in the IP space in the next year, targeting key verticals like healthcare, education, banking and finance and service provider businesses.
Outlining the strategies the company is employing to achieve this high growth target, Soto states that Brocade’s go-to-market strategy (channel and OEM) is key: “Brocade has a unique two tier channel approach very different from competition. Currently, we have just one key distributor, but we are looking to expand this network further. This model has been very successful globally and we expect that this market will be no different. We make it a point to have a high involvement, ‘direct touch’, sales approach with end-users and work on opportunities alongside our partners, as this helps build the confidence of our clients. We are also constantly working to strengthen our relationships and collaborate closely with our strategic partners such as IBM, EMC, HP, Dell, NetApp, McAfee and Blue Coat as we drive over 70 percent of business through them and their channels”.
To spearhead Brocade’s marketing efforts in the region, Hassan Hamadani has recently been hired as marketing manager and will be responsible for Central & Eastern Europe, Middle East, Africa, Turkey & Pakistan. Hamadani, with extensive experience of over ten years in the Middle East market, comes from Avaya (ex Nortel Networks) where he was the marketing director for MEA & Turkey.
Brocade has unveiled its plans to significantly enlarge its footprint and business in the Middle East by announcing that it has doubled the number of staff in the region in just three months, adding depth to its sales, marketing and technical support teams.
