Quantum Looks to the Channel for Video Expertise

There’s been a massive explosion in the amount of unstructured data that organizations are trying to store and protect. What most channel providers don’t appreciate is that most of that unstructured data is comprised of largely video files.

Quantum Corp. to help solution providers tap into that opportunity has revamped the Quantum Alliance channel program to add enhanced channel enablement tools along with a refreshed channel partner portal based on a platform developed by Vartopia that among other things adds provides partners with access to a dashboard through which they can track sales activity, deal funnel, wins and SPIF claims. That portal also provides syndicated access to Alliance partner websites.

In addition, Quantum has expanded an online training program for sales reps and engineers that is organized around vertical market opportunities.

Finally, Quantum is also adding options for in-person training, either conducted at the partner’s location site or at another location with other Quantum Alliance partners.

One of the major drivers of the adoption of storage platforms optimized for video has been increased deployment of video surveillance systems and marketing platforms that employ video to better engage customers.

“Eighty percent of data will be video,” says Elizabeth King, chief revenue officer for Quantum. “That’s where the puck is going.”

The issue that many organizations are encountering is that their existing backup and recovery platforms are not optimized for video files, adds King. In contrast, The Quantum F-Series provides a single 2U chassis to reliably edit in real-time 8K 60FPS content without dropping frames.

At the recent IBC2019 Show in Amsterdam, the F-Series NVMe storage arrays from Quantum received a Best of Show award from TVB Europe along with a CSI Award 2019 for Best Data Storage Solution. At the NAB conference earlier this year, the F-Series was named Best New Storage Technology and also received the ProductionHUB Award of Excellence.

Success when it comes to selling storage systems optimized for video will naturally have a lot to do with vertical market expertise. However, at a time when margins for general purpose storage systems have never been under more pressure, the time to focus on the I/O attributes of specific classes of data may now be at hand.