Legacy vendors in the IT infrastructure monitoring space beware, Paris-based Centreon Software Systems is opening up shop in North America and it wants channel partners to sell its open source solutions.
Centreon, with offices in Paris and now Toronto, has been in the IT monitoring business for 13 years. It quickly found success in the open source community, where the company’s solutions are downloaded more than 3,000 times per month, and have found their way into the hands of more than 200,000 users. Centreon’s solutions, specifically its flagship Centreon EMS solution, are for both enterprises and SMBs, said Centreon co-founder Romain Le Merlus, who is now the CEO of the company’s North American operations.
“There are a lot of players in the IT management market,” Le Merlus told CDN. “And customers turn to many of them for help, and by the end, they’re using 10 to 15 monitoring tools. Our goal is to be on top, so companies can have a complete end-to-end view with one tool.”
According to Gartner (registration required), the IT monitoring market is expected to grow at an 8 per cent compound annual growth rate through 2021, reaching $34.9 billion – plenty of market share to scoop up in the coming years, said Le Merlus. But first, Centreon needs to make connections. Le Merlus said he wants to kick things off in North America by selling through the channel, a strategy the company only adopted several years into the company’s existence in Europe. They’re also going to be picky with who it chooses to partner with. In Europe, Le Merlus said they have approximately three partners per country. They don’t want to open the floodgates in North America, either.
“IT monitoring requires consulting and integration. It’s not always that difficult, but it has to be done across all levels of an organization. That can take time, so we’re looking for partners who can do that,” he said.
Le Merlus, one of the presenters at Computer Dealer News’ inaugural Channel Innovation Awards – Centreon was also a sponsor of the event – talked about his commitment to growing the business in Canada while on stage.
“Last month, I relocated my family to Toronto,” he told audience members. “We have already built a strong market presence in Europe, and I’m confident that together, we will do the same in North America.”
