It’s hard to believe that a year has gone by since we first introduced Ootbi (Out-of-the-Box Immutability) to the market on February 14, 2023.

As 2024 already begins to fly by, I'm grateful for a successful 2023 and excited about what this new year holds for Object First. In 2023, at first, we heard from many potential partners and customers they were concerned we were “too new” to consider as a vendor.  But that quickly changed to “you make our Veeam experience so much better.” We continued to show up, we told our story about the best storage for Veeam, and we proved our commitment to making that vision of secure, simple and powerful immutable backup storage a reality for customers.  Through it all, a great Object First team and extraordinary partners made the difference.  Growing pains transformed into customer success, and we are ready to deliver even more innovation and value this year. As we continue to grow, I’m excited to share what’s to come and how we’ll get there.

The Power of a Founder's Perspective:

At the core of our success is having a founder's mentality – a mindset that requires commitment to the mission, focuses on delivering success, and encourages revolutionary thinking. As revolutionaries, we challenge the status quo, we’re innovative, and we constantly seek new opportunities. The owner’s mindset means we take personal responsibility for delivering team, customer, and partner success with our innovation. We’re focused on impact at the front line of the business, on quality, and being accountable for actions and decisions. 
By fostering a culture that encourages ownership and innovation, we unlock the full potential of our team and company. This is how we made a quick start in 2023, and how we will continue to grow in 2024.

Customer Success and Channel Expansion:

The team adopting an owner’s mindset was important, but building an ecosystem of like-minded partners was critical. From the outset, Object First First has prioritized building and investing in its strategic partnership network. As a 100% channel company, we’ve onboarded 29 partners in our first nine months and continue to prioritize partner value by investing in a meaningful partner program that provides the enablement, marketing support, and rewards that make doing business with Object First different.

At our foundation is a product that combines technical innovation and ease-of-use simplicity, but it’s through a committed network of partners we were able to bring that great product to over 80 Ootbi installations with top technology companies like Mirazon, Centerbase, Prodatix, and Waident. As Zach Young of Centerbase put it, “With Ootbi, we can decrease our Recovery Point Objective (RPO) by 50%. It’s allowed us to protect our critical infrastructure better, and I can sleep more soundly at night. Ootbi just works, and it’s simple to deploy — just set it and forget it.” The channel community took note of our impact on customers and partners and named us a CRN Stellar Startups for 2023, and Vitaly Sukhovsky, Vice President of Channel Sales, as a 2024 CRN Channel Chief.

Furthermore, Object First has expanded its reach into new international markets, including LATAM and EMEA. We’ve hired teams in both regions and joined with respected distributors like Adistec in Latin America, Copaco in Benelux, and Ingram Micro in Germany, and are in discussions with Distributors in the UK and the Nordics, which we will be announcing shortly.

We expect to only increase our focus on partner and customer success in 2024, and are building a strong foundation to address a global audience, as well as the local expertise required in each unique country and region.

2024 — Helping More Customers and Partners Win:

Since our launch, our bookings growth exceeded 200%, comparing the first half of the year to the second half. But, we have only scratched the surface in reaching organizations that need secure, simple and powerful immutable backup storage for Veeam. As Veeam published in Q4 2023 in its research around Zero Trust Data Resilience, there is an urgent need for immutable backup storage that fulfills Zero Trust principles and doesn’t require security or backup expertise that is either too expensive or not available to the great majority of organizations today. We have abundant growth opportunities thanks to the combination of our innovative product and our strong execution. But the secret sauce is our people and culture. That founder’s perspective is focusing a team of talented individuals on making a meaningful difference for themselves, our customers, and our company.  In the last year, we have more than doubled the number of employees at Object First, and I’m proud to say that we have brought on the best and the brightest from many locations around the world, all with unique perspectives and energy, all focused on helping drive success. I couldn’t be more proud of our team and am excited to grow it further in 2024.

Closing Thoughts:

We’ve learned a lot in our first year, made some mistakes, but have achieved great accomplishments because Object First is a meaningful mission for each of us. We are lucky as part of the backup storage market—we are among the “white hats”, helping organizations improve their security posture and mitigate the risks of ransomware with the best storage for Veeam. Our solution allows Veeam admins to build Zero Trust Data Resilient architectures and make a real difference in the fight against cybercrime. We are proud to be at the forefront of this battle along with you, and look forward to a great 2024 and beyond.

 

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