StorageTek opens first Polish branch
U.S.-based StorageTek, a worldwide provider of storage solutions for digitized data, opened its first Polish subsidiary in Warsaw last week.
The opening of the Polish office is part of our plan to expand into the Eastern and Central European market, said Michael Väth, StorageTeks general manager for Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA). We plan to open other subsidiaries (in Central and Eastern Europe), but Poland will play a hub role in the expansion.
StorageTeks data-storage services include offsite backup, remote backup, simultaneous backup, and backup on disk and tape. Its products are compatible with major operating systems such as Unix, Linux, NT and OS/390.
In the wake of the terrorist attacks in the United States, data storage and retrieval has become a hot topic worldwide. When the New York Stock Exchange reopened for business on Sept. 17, StorageTeks stock price, recently ranging from $12-$14, went up by $1 per share. Im not happy that these events drive demand for our services, but we do have to face it, Väth said.
Though StorageTek just opened its first branch in Warsaw, its products are not new to Poland. Weve been operating here through our partners BigVent, S&T and Veracomp, since 1995, Väth said. As a corporate strategy we dont have exclusive distributors so we will be working with our former distributors and well also be looking at some niche storage players, who already have access to our products.
According to Ian Corbett, StorageTeks director for EMEA, the company has 25% of Polands automated tape-storage market. But it plans to boost that figure to some two-thirds of the market in the next five years. Worldwide we have 75% of the automated tape-storage market, so there is no reason why we should be performing worse here, Corbett said.
StorageTeks local customers include mobile operator Polkomtel, fixed-line phone operators Energis and Netia, and U.K.-based pension fund Commercial Union. Its main competitor in Poland is the U.S. IBM. But I dont think there is any competitor offering such a wide range of products as we do, Corbett said.
Last year StorageTek generated $2.06 billion in revenue, half of which was earned in the U.S. and the other half from its overseas operations. Of that total, $831 million was gross profit. Our target is to increase our profit by around 10% after tax, Väth said.
A leader in tape-storage systems, StorageTek is now shifting its focus to disk storage. But its not true that demand for tape products will disappear, he said. The tape market is growing by 10-12% a year so its very healthy.
StorageTek was founded in 1969 and has 22,000 customers in 55 countries.
