eFolder has hired Francois Daumard as senior VP of worldwide sales -- essentially naming him the company's channel chief. Daumard is a well-known channel advocate who has held key roles at AVG Technologies, Microsoft, IBM and Apple. The move comes as eFolder seeks to compete even more aggressively in the business continuity and file sync services markets.
"There are lots of cloud companies out there," Daumard told ChannelE2E. "But eFolder is one of the most channel-focused cloud companies. As I considered my career options, I wanted to make sure I joined a company where the channel was not just a means to an end. The channel had to be a core part of the company's DNA." That's the case, he asserted, with eFolder.
This wasn't an overnight hire. Both eFolder and Daumard carefully researched each other to make sure the fit would be good for him and the company. "We've been in discussions for some time," Daumard said. "It has been a mutual assessment. We both did a lot of back-channel research. We took our time to make sure this is the right move."
Listening to Partners
During the discussions, Daumard was impressed with eFolder's product pipeline and the company's commitment to its 3,000 channel partners -- many of whom are MSPs. Daumard will work in the company's San Francisco office, and plans to spend at least 70 percent of his time personally engaged with channel partners. "Your readers should know that I'll be in touch with them," he said. "My goal is one-to-one or one-to-a-few conversations to really hear from each partner."
Daumard's top priority is to understand why each partner chose eFolder. He'll also take a closer look at how partners profit from the eFolder relationship.
Daumard brings three core benefits to eFolder, according to VP of Marketing Ted Hulsy. They include:
- "Tremendous channel experience" based on his time with companies like Microsoft and Apple.
- "Great alignment" in terms of eFolder's channel and business values.
- "Leadership. He's been with us a week. He's a listener. He's observing how we're doing business today and finding gems for us to exploit."
Fierce Competition
Daumard joins eFolder during a key time for the company, partners and the overall business continuity market. Among the growing list of moves ChannelE2E has tracked in recent months...
- Acronis, led by former Parallels executives, is doubling down on CSPs.
- Autotask just launched endpoint backup, and there are signs the company may make a full-blown run at the BDR market.
- Carbonite is leveraging the eVault buyout across its cloud backup and on-premises appliances — which has acccelerated MSP engagements in recent months.
- Continuum continues to integrate its BDR offerings with its NOC and RMM services.
- Datto continues to expand globally, and is widely viewed as a market share leader among MSPs.
- eFolder launched backup appliances to counter Datto this past summer.
- Infrascale is ramping up a cloud disaster recovery services partner program.
- Intronis MSP Solutions and parent Barracuda Networks are erasing the line between storage and security solutions.
- SolarWinds MSP is working on a unified roadmap. It’s a safe bet that the N-able side of the business will aggressively sell LogicNow’s BDR offerings.
- StorageCraft, acquired by a private equity firm in 2015, has overhauled its executive team and channel leadership team. The company launched its next-generation partner program this morning.
- Veeam has inked reseller agreements with both ConnectWise and Kaseya.
- Zetta has unveiled a cloud disaster recovery service that protects customers without requiring on-premises appliances.
Still, eFolder has its own loyal following -- particularly in the MSP segment. And distributor-oriented relationships for resellers also have been emerging in recent months. We'll be watching to see if Daumard doubles down on MSPs, distributors or resellers -- or all three...
