On 1 March a new distributor opened its doors. Data Storage Distribution (DSD) is addressing a gap it sees in the market for a dedicated storage distributor. In an uncertain economic climate, and a market where consolidation is playing out, DSD believes it can thrive by offering a specialised product set and top-drawer service.
Founder and MD Kalvin Subbadu certainly know his way around the storage market; he’s a familiar face in the storage market and will be driving DSD from the front. Commenting on where the idea for a dedicated storage distributor in South Africa came about, he says there is a very clear gap in the market. “The fact is, there is no dedicated storage distributor that talks to all storage products and solutions. “Typically, when a customer needs storage today, they go to a broad-based distributor. The problem is that these big distributors carry everything and so storage gets diluted in an environment where PCs or notebooks take precedence. “Within the broad-based distributors, a customer that wants to buy five USBs is not given the same priority as a customer buying five notebooks – the service they receive is typically compromised because the distributor’s priority is not storage. “So storage is usually one of the overlooked product sets when customers are looking for solutions. And they are also lower in priority when it comes to delivery. “We realised that what the market needs is a distributor that is focused solely on storage, where it is not an add-on but the solution itself.” Subbadu has been in the storage industry for upwards of 10 years, so he has a good understanding of what the customer pain points are, and what resellers are looking for.
Pain points
Too often, the reseller’s journey to getting the right storage solutions can be cumbersome. “It can be tough for customers to find the right technology at the right price, and to get the right advice from a trustworthy distributor. “At DSD, it is our core business: we will advise you, recommend solutions, and give you best-in-class products. With us, the storage customer is always our number one priority – even if they are ordering just a single USB.” Meanwhile, storage is a growing market around the world. “Data is exploding and the need for storage has never been greater – indeed, the average consumption per person has increased exponentially over the years,” Subbadu says. “People have a dire need for more and more reliable storage solutions. So more products and solutions need to be available to the reseller.” DSD will focus on providing end-to-end solutions, Subbadu adds. “When a customer comes in, he knows that he will have the best of class advice, the most technologically advanced products and the latest solutions.”
Target market
DSD’s go-to-market strategy will be via the channel and retail. “We will tap into the small and medium enterprise (SME) market and government,” Subbadu says. “We will have a strategy for each vertical in the market.” The channel will be key to the distributor’s success, he adds. “The channel is a huge part of the business, and we believe resellers will appreciate the focus we are able to give them that they have not enjoyed up until now.” SME resellers are often sidelined within big distributors, Subbadu adds. “Especially with a niche solution like storage, it’s easy for distributors to focus on the 20% of the customers that bring in 80% of the business. “But what happens to the other 80% of customers? We think our success will come from addressing the entire stack of customers.” Subbadu talks about addressing customer breadth and depth. “In this way, we can maximise both the number of customers and how much work we do with them.”
The operation
DSD will operate nationally, with its headquarters in Kyalami. “We will be managing customers, retailers and organisations around the country,” Subbadu explains. The distributor opened its doors with a core team consisting of Subbadu and sales manager Bendre O'Callaghan, together with a full sales team, marketing, support and administration. The supply chain, warehousing and deliveries are taken care of by a specialist logistics company.
The vision
DSD has a clear vision and mission. “We intend to become a sizeable player that will be a recognisable force in the storage industry,” Subbadu says. “We aim to be a destination distributor, operating independently and not piggybacking on any broad-based distributors for our survival. “We offer a solid value proposition to our customers and will be firmly in control, from the first call to delivering the solution, and providing after-sales service.” He adds that DSD planning and strategising have been in the works for two years, and no stone has been left unturned prior to its launch. “We know what the market needs and where we have to be. “It is going to be a fantastic journey. We are excited about the fact that we can address a market that is not well addressed today.” And, because it’s starting from scratch, DSD can avoid legacy problems. “We are inventing ourselves, so we can be whatever we want to be. We can identify the opportunities and go after them. Right now, we can see a market that is desperate for the products, solutions and services that we can offer. “And, once we get going, customers will see the advantages that come from dealing with a specialist storage distributor.”
The product
line-up DSD has opened its doors with an impressive line-up of storage vendors, with HikVision storage, SanDisk, WD and Samsung on offer. “And we are currently signing up more vendors,” Subbadu says. The initial focus, and the foundation of the business, is device storage. “This is where we are going to prove to the market that we are the experts.” Over time, the distributor will add other hardware, software and cloud storage solutions. “Once customers have learned to trust in our skills and services, we can open up our offerings,” according to Subbadu. He explains that the cloud, for instance, comes in a variety of different iterations: public, private and personal. “Our initial offerings are in a personal cloud, with solutions like network-attached storage (NAS). From there we will be able to offer private cloud, with public cloud the next phase of our offering.”
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