In the coming months, EMC will aggressively invest in cloud computing technology in the developing regions of Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA).
This was revealed by John O'Melia, EMC VP of the EMEA content management and archiving division, who spoke to ITWeb during this week's EMC Momentum 2009 conference, in Athens, Greece.
Within the next three years, EMC aims to have the majority of its software operating on a buy-use model, as its customers' expectations are predicted to change.
O'Melia pointed out that EMC's current go-to-market strategy is focused on driving cloud computing, governance and information access.
“If you look at what's directly happening in the market, our partner organisations are taking our technology and providing services to the public using a cloud model. A lot of telecommunications companies are embracing our archiving technology in the cloud. We have to change our business model to ensure we put in place win-win business models with our partners,” noted O'Melia.
Going strong
O'Melia pointed out that EMC has achieved strong revenue in the developing markets. He said this is because mature markets already have the IT systems in place and have delayed purchasing decisions of new systems due to the recession.
Companies in the emerging regions, however, are investing in new technologies and have not been as hard hit by the recession.
“This year, we continue to see strong growth in the EMEA region, despite one of the worst recessions the world has seen. The Middle East, in particular, has been vibrant. However, the eastern side of Europe has struggled with cash flow, while mature countries have been a bit bruised, but they are surviving.”
Building a community
Chris Blaik, director of marketing, EMEA content management and archiving division, said EMC has seen strong growth in selling solutions to banks and the public sector in emerging markets.
He pointed out: “The emerging markets are a big opportunity for EMC investment. Developing regions, like the South African public sector and government, are increasingly moving away from manual paper-based processes and using technology investments to improve efficiency and productivity. More stadiums and roads are being built for the 2010 Fifa World Cup and there are a lot of workflows and documents that need to be initiated and to become digitised.”
Blaik said this year was the first time EMC had a sold-out Momentum conference, hosting almost 1 500 delegates. Last year, the conference was held in Prague.
According to Blaik, Momentum's key objective is for EMC to meet and strengthen relationships with partners and customers.
The community aspect of the channel is important, as is solving business problems in compelling ways, he added.
“Enterprise content management is a way of cutting cost, accelerating process and automating those processes to help our customers drive growth, pursue compliance and put in place good information governance.”
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