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Commvault Data Protection Software Business Shows Turnaround Progress

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Data protection and cloud backup technology company Commvault is showing signs of a business turnaround under CEO Sanjay Mirchandani.

The evidence: Commvault's total revenue was $188 million in Q3 of fiscal 2021, up 7 percent from Q3 of fiscal 2020. Also, net income was $1.7 million -- far better than a $650,000 loss in the corresponding quarter the previous year. The Q3 fiscal 2021 financial results, which Commvault disclosed this morning, generally beat Wall Street's expectations.

Commvault Business Evolution

John Tavares, vice president, global channel and alliances, Commvault
John Tavares, VP, Commvault

Sanjay Mirchandani, CEO, Commvault

Commvault, like many data protection companies, has pivoted aggressively toward cloud services and recurring revenues. The pivot took some time to materialize, but accelerated significantly under new company leadership the past two years, ChannelE2E believes.

In a prepared statement in today's earnings release, CEO Sanjay Mirchandani said: "The strategic moves we made over the past two years are delivering results. We have simplified how we do business, dramatically improved our execution, and are innovating faster than ever."

Commvault hired Mirchandani to succeed former CEO Bob Hammer in 2019. Mirchandani previously held senior leadership positions at Puppet, VMware, EMC and Microsoft.

More recently, Commvault hired Dell EMC veteran John Tavares as VP of global channel alliances. Also, the company has been busy promoting Metallic, a SaaS backup and recovery platform.

Commvault Challenges

Commvault's business evolution hasn't been easy. Among other challenges, the company had to deal with activist investors who demanded a faster Commvault business evolution.

Moreover, the market is packed with data protection rivals — most of which have pushed hard to offer SaaS-oriented services to MSPs and IT solutions providers. Key rivals include Acronis, Axcient, CohesityDattoOpenText’s Carbonite divisionRubrikStorageCraftVeeam and Veritas, among many others.

Joe Panettieri

Joe Panettieri is co-founder & editorial director of MSSP Alert and ChannelE2E, the two leading news & analysis sites for managed service providers in the cybersecurity market.