INDUSTRY WATCH
WE NEEDED TO GAIN AN UNDERSTANDING OF THE AFRICAN MARKET CONDITIONS AND IDENTIFY THE KEY STAKEHOLDERS IN VARIOUS COUNTRIES AS WE SEEK TO GROW OUR SERVICE PROVIDER-BASE .
As a global provider in cyber protection solutions , Acronis considers Africa as a priority and has been pursuing several strategic investments globally to further its vision of advancing holistic cyber protection .
Given that it is a channel-centric organisation , the company provides its partners with best-of-breed cyber protection solutions to grow their businesses and in turn , provide their customers with leading cyber protection solutions .
According to Rebecca Domingo , Regional and Distributor Marketing Manager , Africa , Acronis the campaign on the continent was aimed at expanding into the African reseller marketplace .
“ We needed to gain an understanding of the African market conditions and identify the key stakeholders in various countries as we seek to grow our service provider-base on the continent .
Acronis with invaluable insights into country-specific challenges . “ More importantly , it offers a hands-on , collaborative approach . They get stuck in and do what it takes to ensure the job gets done . Their data is high quality , they are responsive #, and they embody teamwork in a way that can benefit a marketing team of any size .”
Louise Robinson , CG Consulting CEO , said Acronis believes in a direct approach when connecting with new resellers which is very refreshing . “ People talk to people . We have taken the time to call people which is more personal , and the results show its working .
“ We have called , verified , built , and connected with thousands of resellers , ISPs , hosting , and traditional IT resellers to make this campaign a success . We have tackled 75 % of the continent and are growing the base at a tremendous pace . It ’ s a huge project with five callers and long lists of data to get through ,” Robinson adds .
“ In the beginning it was a little daunting , not really knowing where to start – so we started at the bottom and have worked our way up the African continent . Languages , cultures and time zones were a little tricky to start with , but we worked around that ,” Robinson explained .
CG Consulting has 20 years ’ experience and regional knowledge of Africa , including an extensive network of people on the ground throughout the continent . Its industry knowledge , insights and expertise are a key element in assisting Acronis in both the planning and execution phases of their campaigns .
Robinson highlighted the challenge of databases and resellers being the most important part of the campaign , as it is sometimes hard to find them in certain region where they don ’ t traditionally use the Internet or social platforms like LinkedIn .
“ MSPs , hosting companies and IT companies have tripled in Africa over the last two years , which is astounding . Everyone has a phone and is connecting to the internet somehow ; still it is hard to believe how many MSP ’ s and vendors are still out there that to be approached . CG have built these amazing databases to be tapped into ,” she said .
Domingo said CG Consulting has people who speak the dialects of the different regions and provide
Acronis unifies data protection and cybersecurity to deliver integrated , automated cyber protection that
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