As the fiscal year concluded for NetApp, a strategic meeting brought together key players from NetApp and SHD to discuss future plans. Among them were SHD's Managing Directors, Toralf Lips and Marco Graef, accompanied by Udo Böhm, Head of Business Development and NetApp Alliance Manager, reflecting on their long-standing partnership. The collaborative efforts aimed at fostering innovation, seizing market opportunities, and enhancing strategic cooperation were central to the discussions.
Henning Rahe, Senior Director of Partner Sales Germany, outlined new objectives for the next fiscal year. He stated, "NetApp sees the commercial sector in Germany, among other places, as a key focus for growth." As the IT firm, headquartered in San Jose, employs over 12,000 professionals, the new financial chapter commences in May. Projections from Statista anticipate global revenue in the storage solutions market to hit approximately €60.1 billion by 2025, with Germany contributing around €2.5 billion.
Investment in Training and Expertise
“Through years of continuous investment in excellent training for consulting, technical certifications, installations, and support and professional services for NetApp storage and cloud solutions, SHD is among the leading partners,” emphasizes Marco Graef. This emphasis highlights SHD's commitment to establishing a credible infrastructure in the commercial sector.
The partnership between SHD and NetApp stands out for its longevity
Toralf Lips stated, “The experience and expertise of our long-standing IT professionals, as well as the fresh impetus brought by up-and-coming talent, are key to our success. SHD has a strong tradition in the SME sector and, together with NetApp, pursues the clear goal of consistently realizing growth potential there – to the mutual benefit of both parties.” He noted SHD's reliance on NetApp’s expansive innovation portfolio of intelligent data infrastructure solutions as crucial for supporting commercial clients.
Strategic Areas of Growth
According to Udo Böhm, "NetApp's strategic focus on growth areas such as data security, data compliance, hybrid cloud services, and intelligent data infrastructure is an excellent fit for SHD as a systems integrator and guarantees further joint growth." He stressed that SHD's solutions and services are closely aligned with NetApp's top technology partners, enabling them to provide comprehensive data management solutions, including 24/7 support services.
The partnership between SHD and NetApp stands out for its longevity, with SHD integrating NetApp’s reliable solutions since 1998. Ulrike Zacheiß, newly appointed in fall 2024 as the strategic manager of the partnership, expressed her enthusiasm: “As Partner Manager, I am delighted to be supporting SHD. This partner possesses excellent technical expertise and, with over 25 years of experience, is one of the oldest NetApp business partners in Germany.”
