Veeam Government Solutions subsidiary features federal focus
Following Veeam's acquisition by Insight Partners, the data protection vendor sought to make gains among U.S. government customers. The unveiling of a subsidiary is the next step.
Veeam Software launched a wholly owned subsidiary today that focuses on backup and recovery for the U.S. federal government.
Veeam Government Solutions (VGS) -- which has headquarters in Washington, D.C., and is staffed by U.S. citizens -- supports the data protection requirements of the government, said Earl Matthews, president of the subsidiary.
"VGS is specifically tailored to meet those needs," Matthews said.
Turbulent times
Data protection is critical to the continuity of the federal government. In just the last couple of months, cyberattacks have hit large companies and affected millions of people.
Also in that time, the White House issued recommendations meant to help companies avoid ransomware infections and signed an executive order that aims to strengthen cybersecurity defenses, including supply chain security.
Every government agency needs the most modern and adept backup and recovery.
Earl MatthewsPresident, Veeam Government Solutions
"Every government agency needs the most modern and adept backup and recovery solutions, and that's what VGS offers," Matthews said.
Veeam has sold data protection to the U.S. federal government for more than a decade. It claims 1,200 government customers, including the Department of Defense, every branch of the military and more than 300 Native American tribes.
Vendors such as Hitachi and SAP occasionally form subsidiaries in the federal government space, Matthews said. Veeam wants to expand its reach in the federal government market with the formation of the subsidiary.
Since the acquisition, Veeam has made a commitment to be a U.S. company to compete more in the federal space. Having that U.S. base "will provide more comfort to our federal customers," Matthews said.
Veeam has ramped up its efforts to expand in the U.S. federal sector over the past 18 months, "using the acquisition by Insight as some fuel for this initiative," said Krista Macomber, senior analyst at Evaluator Group.
"Veeam has had a lingering perception of close ties to Russia, which has made it challenging for Veeam to grow in this particular space," Macomber said. "The new ownership has been a new opportunity for Veeam to shed that perception."
Cybersecurity plays key role in subsidiary
Security and integrity of the IT supply chain is one of the biggest concerns in this field, Matthews said. The cyberattack on SolarWinds in 2020 showed what happens with the target of just one link in a software supply chain.
Earl Matthews
To that end, Veeam partnered with CACI Inc.-Federal to provide auditable and traceable processes in line with President Joe Biden's executive order that encourages third-party verification and validation of software. The partnership helps guarantee integrity of the source code, Matthews said.
Veeam Chief Information Security Officer Gil Vega and his team have worked on supply chain audits and security, which is important considering all the recent attacks, Macomber said.
The vendor also received a Blanket Purchase Agreement from the U.S. Department of Defense's Enterprise Software Initiative. The agreement validates the integrity of Veeam as a reliable backup vendor, Matthews said.
In addition, Veeam Government Solutions claims several critical security and IT certifications.
U.S. federal government customers have access to all versions of Veeam Backup & Replication. The subsidiary aims to make every product in the Veeam line available to those customers in a release validated independently to verify integrity of the source code shortly after general availability, Matthews said. Veeam Backup for Microsoft Office 365, for example, is on the roadmap for validation soon.
"The dedicated subsidiary will help Veeam collect real-time feedback on feature requirements and other things that federal-sector customers would like to see," Macomber said.
Veeam Government Solutions also seeks to raise the profile of Veeam's offerings and the company in general. Some aren't aware that Veeam is a U.S. company now, Matthews said.
"There are other players that have practice areas dedicated to the federal sector," Macomber said. "I think that Veeam is trying to position this new subsidiary more independently, in order to further build that brand with federal-sector customers."
Earl Matthews
