Veeam Software, innovative provider of backup, replication and virtualization management solutions for VMware vSphere and Windows Server Hyper-V, received the prize for runner-up in the 2012 “Rising Star” Award during the European GTDC Summit in Barcelona. The Global Technology Distribution Council represents all the leading IT distributors from all over the world.

The 'Rising Star' award is given to organizations who have shown the largest growth in the EMEA region via 2-tier channel, the channel that uses distributors and resellers. This award is divided in three categories: Gold, Silver and Bronze, based on revenue.

Gilles Pommier, channel director EMEA at Veeam Software, about the award: “We are very proud to have won the silver medal in this award ceremony. Veeam is fully dedicated to its partners. Our business model is solely based on selling our products through distribution channels. We invest heavily in our distributors and reselling partners with our ProPartner program. This second place is a great recognition of our efforts."

“The future will not see any drastic change, Veeam will keep investing heavily in its 100% indirect, 2-tier channel model”, says Pommier. “This simple sales model has been one of the key pillars of our success. Not only will we keep investing in our partners, and we will also reward the most willing, committed and successful ones. We stick to our ambition, high growth over the next few years. We will use our distributors to develop further and manage our reseller base. We will invest in more resources – remote or field – with a specific focus at Tier One Partners to help them accelerate sales and services in the larger accounts. We are taking two important additional directions: the development of alliance relationships with storage vendors, and the creation of a channel dedicated at Cloud Providers.”

The GTDC organization is very pleased with the award winners as well: "It is good to see that new suppliers keep introducing new products within the IT environment," says Peter van den Berg, General Manager GTDC Europe. "If these companies manage to set up great partnerships with their distribution partners and grow as quickly as Veeam, I am convinced that there will always be reason for success. Regardless of the economic situation."

The Global Technology Distribution Council is a consortium that represents the largest IT distributors in the world. The members of GTDC achieve an annual revenue of more than $ 100 billion through the worldwide sales of IT products, services and solutions through dynamic business channels. GTDC annually organizes an EMEA Summit so its members can get in touch with each other. The organization invites a select group of executives of the largest and fastest growing IT suppliers to discuss channel-related topics and to offer them the opportunity to network. The GTDC European Summit was held this year on 13 and 14 June in Barcelona.