Mareva Koulamallah, Head of Marketing and Communications Middle East & Africa for Acronis, outlined Acronis’ strategic plans for 2022 in an exclusive interview with TECHx.
Mareva: It was a fast-growing year for our activities, even more than usual, as quarter after quarter we overachieved on the objectives we had for the region, from all perspectives: sales, marketing, PR, etc. We participated in multiple industry events where we reconnected with our existing partners, customers, and also with potential new channel partners. One of our biggest highlights definitely was our Acronis CyberFit summit that took place in Dubai in December and welcomed hundreds of guests, who understand the critical need for the right cyber protection strategy.
Mareva: After seeing 2021’s results, we can only be excited about what 2022 holds, such as further growth, new distribution partnerships, increased focus on key countries within the region, and continued investment in the right activities. 2022 will be a year of sports highlights in the region with Formula One, and Formula E races, and the Football World Cup in Qatar as well that year.
Mareva: It is not certain that we can really speak about post-pandemic because as much as the GCC countries and especially the UAE are an example to follow around the pandemic, we are still living in it and we still have to proceed with caution on the day-to-day. Therefore, our core strategy remains the same: responding to people’s critical need for cyber protection, educating about the risk to operate in a digitalized world, and having an even more regional approach by focusing on each market with the right investment and support to local activities.
Mareva: For sure, machine learning and artificial intelligence will continue to lead the way around innovation and technological advancements. Any device used in such environments will still require the appropriate cyber protection and we will be glad to support you with the right services and solutions. As for new technologies, anything driven from the quantum revolution and around supercomputers will be something to watch.
Mareva: The Acronis #CyberFit Partner Program helps accelerate our partners’ business growth with robust sales, marketing, and technical support. By 2022, we plan on continuing to grow this program, giving access to more and more partners by adding new options and providing even more local support.
There is also our Acronis #CyberFit Academy which offers training and brand-new #CyberFit certification courses in more than 20 languages focused on three major areas – sales, technical, and developer training. Professional instructors lead all courses, either in-person via lab work or remotely using video and animation, or panel discussions. We definitely will look into providing more in-person training here in the Middle East, maybe under a roadshow format with multiple stops for our regional distributors, partners, and resellers.
Mareva: We would like to start by thanking them for their support, their trust, and their business, and to wish them health for themselves and their loved ones, especially during such times. We would also like to wish them continued business success with us and to count on our support to deliver them with the appropriate cyber protection to help them protect and further develop their business too.
