“Channel is the force multiplier”: Quest Software VP of product and GTM on the benefits of the channel

Bharath Vasudevan tells CRN Australia why the data management company is focused on becoming more channel first.

For Quest Software, using channel partners is becoming a part of the company’s fabric according to Bharath Vasudevan, VP of product and GTM.

While the company couldn’t give specifics on how much the company is channel versus direct, Vasudevan said Quest is aiming to be “channel first”.

Speaking to CRN Australia, he said, “For us the commercial segment is effectively channel-led. That's the mandate that we're pushing forward.

“It’s fun because that's where the natural affinity is for channel partner engagement anyway, and now we're basically discouraging deals to go direct.”

Vasudevan noted there is no reason to go direct anymore.

“Honestly, the channel is your force multiplier, and it's basically getting the ethos through the organisation that that's the way we're going to be operating,” he explained.

“In our commercial space, the affinity of the sales reps and the sales organisation are gravitating towards it because they see the benefit in it. We all see the benefit in it.

“Especially in a space where the channel partners tend to have that trusted partner relationship with the customer.”

Throughout his career, Vasudevan has been in QBRs where the sales representative is questioned where the partner is.

“They're the ones that hold most of the sway in a lot of these accounts, and the quicker we are to understand that and embrace it, the more success both of us are going have,” he said.

“Automating us away”

Vasudevan looks at the Australian market and sees that data modelling as a practice has been “shoved in the corner”.

Speaking to leaders at the Australian “Red Bank”, Vasudevan was showcasing their data modelling tools, and the data modelling team got defensive.

“They said, ‘Are you automating our work away? Are you getting rid of us?’ I said, quite the contrary. What we're doing is taking all of the work that you've been diligently doing for your organisation over the last 10 or 15 years, and we're making it central to the data strategy,” he explained.

“We've built the killer application that takes advantage of all the data modelling that your team has been doing, that your company is invested in, and we're leveraging all of that to solve the company's biggest business problems.

“The moment I said that, you could see a lot of the anxiety wash off their faces, and then they were bought into it.”

He does see automating jobs away as a concern for business leaders.

“If you look at it from the leader’ point of view, they’ve been tasked to create 25 percent more efficiency out of their organisation. Two ways of doing it is use AI reduce people or it's use AI to increase output,” he said.

“If you're in an organisation that's in invest mode, now it's not do more with less, it's do way more with what you have. If you have an organisation that's in cost cutting mode, it's do more with less or do the same with less.”

Perspective on Australian market

Australia for Quest Software is a “strong growth market” in the APAC region.

“It is where we're placing our biggest bets, making our biggest investments, where all of our APJ hires are happening. We're running, the region out of Australia,” he said.

What makes it the number one growth region for Quest Software is the market size and government regulation.

Vasudevan pointed out the eHealth in NSW that administers to all 57 hospitals in the state, something he doesn’t see in other regions.

“Putting that level of regulation, it's not socialism, because I think there's other places that have that but it's a healthy balance where the states control certain things,” he said.

“There's a certain budget that's allocated towards it. They're moving technology forward. I can tell you, other parts of Asia are not moving technology forward. They're SaaS-averse. They're stuck in in yesterday's way of doing business.

He said, “Australia is remarkably progressive”.

“It almost splits the difference between the US policy of effectively no policy, and the European policies that are bordering on socialism. I think Australia does a fine job of splitting the difference, but it creates a healthy, robust IT market,” he ended.