Wasabi Technologies

After launching a successful hot cloud storage company, Founder and CEO David Friend is ready to scale the venture rapidly. Wasabi Technologies had focused primarily on direct sales, but an opportunity to pivot to channel sales was on the horizon. The company’s major competitors—Amazon, Google, and Microsoft—all sold their cloud storage products through multiple channels, and Friend feared that direct sales could never provide the momentum Wasabi Technologies needed to compete. However, channel sales would include changing its sales, marketing, and staffing strategies dramatically—effectively veering the company away from its already successful course. Was channel sales the right play for the burgeoning cloud storage provider? If so, how should Friend go about it?