Prior to becoming chief executive officer for Puppet Inc. and now Commvault Systems Inc., Sanjay Mirchandani held senior leadership positions with Microsoft Corp., EMC and VMware Inc. He knows the value of data for the enterprise, and he’s bringing that expertise straight to his new role with the data protection provider.

“If I was sitting with a CEO today and having a conversation about what matters in technology, I would say data matters; the asset of your company is the data,” said Mirchandani (pictured). “Protecting, managing and controlling it are almost table stakes, so I’m raising the stakes. Use is where the magic is.”

Mirchandani spoke with Stu Miniman and Lisa Martin, co-hosts of theCUBE, SiliconANGLE Media’s mobile livestreaming studio, during the Commvault GO event in Aurora, Colorado. They discussed how Commvault helps customers derive value from data, the firm’s channel partner program and Mirchandani’s strategic plan going forward (see the full interview with transcript here). (* Disclosure below.)

Gaining competitive edge

Raising the stakes for Mirchandanai means going beyond mere data protection. It’s being “data ready,” leveraging information assets to generate value for a business edge.

“Being data ready is having a strategy and a capability to protect, manage, control and use that information in the way you wish for competitive advantage,” Mirchandani explained. “Just protecting it is a life insurance policy; controlling, managing and using it is the way you get the value out of it. As companies become more data driven; this is where we help them.”

Commvault has also signaled an interest in growing its customer base through expansion of the channel partner program. The company has recently named channel industry veterans to its executive team, and Mirchandani made it clear that the recently acquired Hedvig and the newly formed business unit Metallic would be channel driven.

“We’re not doing this alone, that’s not my intent, and our goal is to work together,” said Mirchandani in a discussion of his firm’s partner relationships. “Hedvig is today sold through channel and will continue to, and Metallic is built to be only sold through the channel.”

Mirchandani joined Commvault in February, and he has implemented a fairly straightforward plan to grow the company.

“When I came in, there was a lot we had to do. And I wanted to focus on getting this company back to growth,” Mirchandani said. “I laid out a very simple three-point plan: simplify, innovate, execute. Now it’s about really making sure we help the company and our customers realize their true potential.”

Here’s the complete video interview, part of SiliconANGLE’s and theCUBE’s coverage of Commvault GO. (* Disclosure: TheCUBE is a paid media partner for Commvault GO. Neither Commvault, the sponsor for theCUBE’s event coverage, nor other sponsors have editorial control over content on theCUBE or SiliconANGLE.)

Photo: SiliconANGLE