Inevidesk co-founder on the VDI opportunity left by VMware
In less than a year, the vendor has also gone from working with ‘a couple of MSPs’ to around 50 to 60 per cent channel revenues – and it is not slowing down
“We want to make more people aware of who we are and what we're doing and try to extend the benefits of virtual desktop technology to more and more organisations,” says Tim Whiteley, co-founder of Inevidesk, in a call with CRN.
Whiteley tells CRN that Inevidesk was born as a challenger to VMware and now represents “a big opportunity for people who used VMware to move to a more cost accessible, available and reliable VDI platform.”
“We’re trying to address a current problem within the wider tech sector, which is that VMware, the main legacy VDI software provider, is losing traction within the market.
“They were purchased by Broadcom, split the business, changed their licensing around who can buy what, where, and for what price, which has caused a lot of problems for VMware users.”
Channel involvement and foreseeable growth
In less than a year, the vendor has also gone from working with “a couple of MSPs” to around 50 to 60 per cent of its revenues coming through the channel.
“We were able to convert a number of accounts into channel partnerships rapidly because several of our clients already worked with MSPs.
“Our main aim is to be primarily working with channel partners, instead of providing services directly.
“By the end of the year, we’re aiming for 70 to 80 per cent of our revenue to be generated through the channel.
“We remain open to selling direct, if that's what customers would prefer, but pursuing channel partnerships is our main focus.”
The vendor also wants to keep its eyes on organic growth rather than on mergers and acquisitions.
“We're not looking to acquire any other businesses or merge with anyone else,” Whiteley tells CRN.
“At the moment, we're still very much focused on building Inevidesk as its own brand and maintaining our independence; that independence is a big part of who we are.
“But things change really quickly in the technical landscape, so ask me again in six months, and we'll see where we are.”
Challenges and opportunities ahead
Whiteley is watching the tech landscape keenly. As a relatively new kid on the block (Inevidesk was founded in 2019), the vendor is particularly susceptible to market head and tailwinds
“There are huge amounts of change coming with AI, with most tech providers and software solutions incorporating the technology into their workflows.
“But at the same time - particularly here in the UK - we're also dealing with a country that is struggling economically and is cautious about investing.
“There's quite a lot of new tech and evolving tech at the moment, yet there also remains a reluctance for many organisations to actually invest in tech at the moment.
“A lot of organisations are sitting on legacy tech, many of them still from before COVID, because things have been tricky for a long time.”
But far from being pessimistic about tech evolution in the UK and around the world, the co-founder thinks that “there is still a general drive towards cloud-based tech to make things more flexible.”
That flexibility is a key part of Inevidesk’s ethos, as Whiteley previously told CRN that he wants to maintain “complete flexibility without performance sacrifice.”
“I don't know what we're going to see, I don't know if this year is going to be the year of change, but I think that organisations and channel partners need to have an eye on innovation and on the practical implications for their clients, and make sure they remain aware of the options, of which Inevidesk is one.
“We're not an AI company by any stretch, but we still offer solutions that allow companies to innovate in terms of how they work at the moment, and in terms of the infrastructure that they use.”