Businessmodel of Nimble Storage

Customer Segments

Nimble Storage provides a range of products and solutions to mid-sized and large global enterprises across multiple business sectors, as well as cloud-based service providers. The Company’s end-user base has grown to more than 10,000 worldwide, according to its website.  These customers can be organised primarily into the following categories:

• Cloud Service Providers, including internet companies and cloud-based storage solutions providers;
• Education, including educational organisations such as universities, as well as research institutions;
• Financial Services, including banking institutions, financial service providers, capital management firms, and assurance and insurance companies, and venture capital firms;
• Healthcare, including healthcare providers, community health plans, and medical institutions;
• Manufacturing, including manufacturers of consumer goods, electronics, food and drink products, and industrial components;
• Technology, including technical solutions providers, technology, IT service companies, and software companies; and
• Government, including municipal, state, and federal government bodies, as well as various public bodies and agencies. Nimble Storage names a number of its clients on its website. This includes companies and organisations such as Amadeus Capital, Northrim Bank, Grant Street Group, Yahoo! Japan, Siemens, Skullcandy, and Aveva. Nimble Storage did not have any end-customers that represented more than 10% of its total revenue in 2016. In 2016 distributors Avnet, Ingram Micro, and Carahsoft Technology collectively accounted for around 79% of the Company’s revenue.

Nimble Storage serves an extensive domestic user base in the US. It also serves customers across the rest of North America, as well as across the Asia Pacific, and Europe, Middle East and Africa regions.

Value Propositions

Nimble Storage provides value to its clients in the following ways:

• Its industry standing and reputation, with the Company established as a reliable and trusted provider of storage solutions, as indicated by its ability to secure business from high-profile companies, government bodies, and public agencies;
• Its proprietary technologies, with the Company utilising a range of proprietary technologies in the development and delivery of its solutions and products, enabling it to provide end users with unique and innovative service offerings;
• The efficiency and cost-effectiveness of its solutions, with the Company’s solutions able to address a wide range of business applications, assisting clients in simplifying, scaling, and accelerating such applications at a reasonable price;
• Its network of partners, with the Company partnering with a range of market-leading companies – including Oracle, Microsoft, and Citrix – to ensure that its solutions are delivered effectively and efficiently; and
• Its international reach, with the Company serving an extensive domestic client base, as well as an extensive user base across international markets in Asia Pacific, Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. ### Channels

Nimble Storage operates a website at www.nimblestorage.com, through which the Company provides information on its various products, solutions, operating locations, and target industries. While the Company does not appear to operate an online sales portal, it does allow customers to request product demonstrations directly through its website. It also operates an online customer portal, through which customers can access products, tools, and resources.

Nimble Storage makes sales to customers through its direct sales force, the members of which deal directly with end-users. The Company’s sales personnel operate out of sales and administrative offices around the world, including locations in the US, India, Japan, France, the UK, and the UAE. Customers can contact sales personnel over the phone or via email.

Nimble Storage makes a significant portion of its sales through various channel partners, with, as noted above, the majority of the Company’s sales in 2016 being made to distributors.

The Company also sells products through a range of value added resellers. Nimble Storage does not manufacture its own hardware products, instead outsourcing these activities to contract manufacturer Flextronics, which assembles and tests the Company’s products. Nimble Storage also utilises the services of third-party logistics partners.

Customer Relationships

Nimble Storage does not sell its products directly to customers on a self-service basis. The Company does, however, allow customers to request product demonstrations directly through the Company’s website. The Company also operates a self-service online portal, through which customers can access product functionality, tools, and resources independently without interacting with members of the Company’s sales and service personnel.

Nimble makes sales through a direct sales force, the members of which are able to consult directly with customers in order to ensure that their individual needs are met. The Company is able to scale and tailor many of its storage solutions to suit the size and circumstances of each customer. Nimble Storage seeks to secure longstanding relationships with its customers.

Nimble Storage provides ongoing support to its customers, including premium 24-hour support services that ensure quick and effective technical assistance. Customers are able to contact support personnel over the phone in order to access personalised support.

The Company also offers a range of online resources, including white papers, analyst reports, infographics, and videos that can be accessed independently through its website. Additionally, Nimble Software operates a user community through which customers can interact with one another, collaborate on issues, and share ideas.

Nimble Storage maintains profiles with several social media platforms – including LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube – through which it is able to interact directly with customers and provide company updates.

Key Activities

Nimble Storage develops and sells a range of flash storage solutions and products.

This includes the Company’s Predictive Flash platform, through which the Company provides customers with a full-service storage architecture that includes data, analytics, support and service offerings. Nimble Storage’s service offerings enable information technology organisations to manage performance, capacity and cost for the applications running across data centres.

The Company’s clients include companies across multiple industries, such as the manufacturing, technology, education, healthcare, and financial services sectors. Nimble Storage maintains an operational presence across various markets in North America, Asia Pacific, and Europe, Middle East and Africa.

Key Partners

Nimble Storage works in close collaboration with a range of partner companies and organisations that assist in developing and implementing effective solutions. These partners can be organised into the following categories:

• Supplier and Vendor Partners, including suppliers of services, equipment, and materials, including its contract manufacturing partners that are tasked with producing the Company’s hardware products;
• Channel and Distribution Partners, including the Company’s various channel partners, notably its principal distribution partners, as well as its network of value added resellers and systems integrators;
• Cloud Service Provider Partners, including the Company’s network of cloud service partners that assist the Company in developing and delivering cloud storage solutions to its clients; and
• Strategic and Alliance Partners, including a range of market leading companies across multiple industries that collaborate with the Company on various joint projects, including in marketing, branding, and development. Nimble Storage names a number of its partners on its website. These partners include high-profile technology companies such as Cisco, Microsoft, Intel, SAP, Lenovo, and Oracle.

Key Resources

Nimble Storage’s key resources are its intellectual properties and proprietary technologies, its sales and distribution channels, its online portal and cloud solutions, its IT and communications infrastructure, its various partnerships, and its personnel.

Nimble Storage utilises a range of proprietary technologies in the development and implementation of its solutions, which it protects using intellectual property and trademark laws. Searches of records published by the US Patent and Trademark Office identified a number of patent applications filed in the name of Nimble Storage, including applications entitled ‘Methods and systems for storing data in a redundant manner on a plurality of storage units of a storage system, Methods and systems for managing the scheduling of snapshots on a storage array’, and ‘Methods and systems for caching data in a storage system based on user input’.

Nimble Storage also owns and or leases a number of physical properties around the world that comprise its network of sales and administrative offices.

Cost Structure

Nimble Storage incurs costs in relation to the development of its proprietary technologies and solutions, the development and maintenance of its online portal, the maintenance of its IT and communications infrastructure, the procurement of professional and manufacturing services, the management of its partnerships, the operation of its sales and distribution channels, the implementation of marketing campaigns, and the retention of its personnel.

In 2016 Nimble Storage recorded total operating expenses in the amount of $328.22 million. This included research and development costs in the amount of $93.99 million, sales and marketing costs in the amount of $197.98 million, and general and administrative costs in the amount of $36.25 million.

Revenue Streams

Nimble Storage generates revenue through the development and sale of various storage solutions, including physical storage products and cloud-based storage offerings. The Company also generates revenue through the provision of various related services. The Company derives its revenue in the form of product sales and under service and support contracts.

In 2016 Nimble Storage generated total revenue in the amount of $322.22 million, up considerably on the $227.63 million recorded by the Company in 2015. This comprised product revenue of $265.60 million and support and service revenue of $56.61 million.