Steek enables a richer digital life for ISP and Telco end-customers - Interview with Steek CEO Christophe Camborde
November 12, 2008
Steek is a European specialist in online storage for the residential market with more than 2 million end-users. After a second round of financing in July 08, Steek is currently growing its operations in Asia and North America.
Steek CEO Christophe Camborde explains why Steek is going to store content for many more than the current 2 million users…
Q: Why Steek is different from other Value Added Service Providers?
Christophe Camborde: The main reason is we are a consumer online storage specialist. Steek takes standard off the shelf hardware and adds a sophisticated software layer which is why we can provide online storage at a price point which supports consumer services. And we focus on white labeling: we sell online storage VAS to Telco.
Q: Why do Telcos want online storage now?
Christophe Camborde: Telcos and ISPs are moving from pipe to content! IPTV is the most obvious example and online storage is another! Today more gigabytes are produced globally from everybody’s camera or camcorder, email or blog entries…than from any other source. Online storage is a wonderful tool to enrich the relationship between the Telco and its customers and thus increase ARPU and reduce churn.
Q: What is Steek’s main value for its customers?
Christophe Camborde: We have been providing online storage for several years now and we only do online storage! So we know how to provide really cost effective online gigabyte! Also with more than 2 millions end-users we have developed many features and services around online storage, so that we are able to meet any Telco’s needs in terms of online storage… To make it very simple online storage is either SECURITY (unlimited online backup service) or FUN (with video streaming or sharing features).
Q: Who are your main competitors?
Christophe Camborde: We have few direct competitors. Actually not many vendors are able to deal with the complexity and specific behavior of a Telco or an ISP. Integration with provisioning, CRM and billing is usually a nightmare for in the Telco environment and on top of our capacity to provide low cost gigabyte and feature rich services, we need also to be able to connect easily to the Telco backoffice. This is a real entry barrier for new competitors. Even hard disks or USB keys are not competitor because online storage is not only backup but also sharing. At the end, Steek can compete only because we continually develop our solution to add value to the online gigabyte: Only the online gigabyte can link to Facebook and also be on the TV (via IPTV) or streamed to the smartphone of the consumer….
Q: Where is online storage going?
Christophe Camborde: First of all there is no recession in gigabyte consumption! There are even more laptop or netbooks at home, more 10 Megapixel digital cameras, more camcorders and more IPTV! So we need to continuously provide more rich features and more cost effective gigabyte. What I believe also is that online backup will be become as commonplace as anti-virus in a near future. Why? Because there is more risk of losing your digital pictures because of an unexpected hard disk crash or laptop thief than from a virus attack! Unlimited backup is emerging and the end-user price is decreasing very fast so that it will soon be a no-brainer to have it on every PC.
Q: Does online storage face slowdown due to the current economic crisis?
Christophe Camborde: Of course everybody is very careful these days but we are currently facing a fantastic business increase: compared to last year our income has risen (+130%!) we have increased oby 50% the number of employees and our number of ISP/Telco partners is x6!!! Could be worse :-).
Q: Is it really that good for Steek?
Christophe Camborde: Yes, to tell the truth I have 10 new positions to be filled very urgently to help us handle the increase of business we are facing.
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