Netapp takes the lead in the SAN storage market in France and distinguishes its partners

Netapp has established itself for two quarters as the absolute leader in the storage market in France. This is one of the major pieces of information that the supplier was keen to disseminate during its 2024 partner tour of France (the Partner Academy Tour), the regional part of which ends this November 28 in Nantes.

While it has long been considered the leader in NAS storage, it is in the SAN storage segment that Netapp now stands out. The manufacturer cites IDC figures which credit it with the rank of leader in the SAN segment with around 24% market share over the first two quarters of the year while it was in second place behind HPE a year earlier with 17%. at 18% market share. A breakthrough which allowed it to gain market share in the Flash segment and also to be perceived as the dominant player in the Flash segment.

Franck Risbec, channel director for Southern Europe at Netapp (photo), explains this spectacular progress on the SAN by the combination of two factors: the arrival of a differentiated line of SAN bays, the ASA range – while it had always favored until now the platforms embedding the two protocols – and the establishment of a revamped partner program very focused on the development of the new ASA line and the improvement of the coverage of mid-sized companies.

As part of this program, a stimulation operation called Race to Netapp, notably made an impression by allowing partners to obtain a 10% to 30% margin on their sales of ASA products. An operation continued for the second Netapp fiscal half-year, which is starting.

Since October 15, the opening date of the tour, the seven Partner Academy in the regions will have welcomed more than 400 participants, including around a hundred in the Lyon session alone. And the manufacturer expects more than 150 additional partners at its Paris session on December 10, which the group's CEO, George Kurian, will attend in person.

True to form, Netapp presented the regional partner of the year trophy at each stage of its turn. The following were awarded: Axians on October 15 in Bordeaux, Solution Data (Cheops Group) on the 16th in Toulouse, SCC on November 13 in Aix and Stordata on November 14 in Lyon.