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Veeam names new regional manager for Africa

Regina Pazvakavambwa
By Regina Pazvakavambwa
Johannesburg, 16 May 2016
Despite the influx of new technology, South African businesses are by nature quite conservative when it comes to change, says Veeam's Claude Schuck.
Despite the influx of new technology, South African businesses are by nature quite conservative when it comes to change, says Veeam's Claude Schuck.

Veeam has appointed Claude Schuck as the new regional manager for Africa. He replaces Warren Olivier who has left the company to pursue personal interests.

Schuck's immediate plan is to pursue growth and strengthen Veeam's channel market in South Africa.

Gregg Petersen, regional director for the Middle East and Africa and the South Asian Association for Regional Co-operation at Veeam, says this is an important appointment for Veeam as it tries to grow its business in Africa and meet the immense opportunity the continent has to offer.

"Claude Schuck is a highly experienced executive with significant credibility in the market. His ability to run large teams and highly complex channel projects positions him well to expand Veeam across Africa."

In his previous role, Schuck was channel manager at EMC Southern Africa and prior to that, he was the head of the Dell Large Enterprise business unit for South Africa.

Schuck holds a Bcom from Unisa and has gained the rest of his expertise on the ground during almost 20 years in the IT industry, says Veeam.

He sees Veeam as an organisation that will help customers address the always-on enterprise.

Schuck says the business demands of the digital world have changed the way decision-makers approach their technology solutions.

Digital transformation and the ability to meet the needs of the always-on business can only be met when the modern data centre has the capabilities to meet this demand, adds Schucks.

"In order to achieve the requirement for improved service levels, businesses must ensure they have a modern data centre in place. This will be anchored by the key technologies provided by the likes of virtualisation, modern storage systems, and the cloud.

In South Africa, the cloud will help drive transformation, says Schuck. However, a business needs a partner it can trust and who takes the time to understand its core strategy, he notes.

Also, businesses need to ensure they remain relevant in their respective industries and having robust and reliable access to data is paramount to continued success, he says.

"We are beginning to understand the threat of not securing your company's intellectual property and having access to interrogate, recover or mine data, anytime and in a minimal recovery window."

According Schucks, all organisations, regardless of industry or size, are turning to technology to radically improve their performance and overall customer experience.

However, despite the influx of new technology, South African businesses are by nature quite conservative when it comes to change, he adds.