Apparently, some partners are worried Vembu plans to start selling its backup software directly to customers, potentially bypassing VARs and managed services providers. Responding to the speculation, Vembu CEO Sekar Vembu has posted a blog outlining his company’s channel strategy. Here are the details, plus some perspectives from The VAR Guy.

Potential partner issues surfaced on Vembu’s forums, where a service provider expressed concern about competing with Vembu Home, an online backup system that integrates with Amazon Web Services.

In a lengthy blog reply, Vembu CEO Sekar Vembu assures storage partners that his company remains committed to the channel. He notes that partners generate 95% of Vembu revenues. He adds:

Worth Noting

Meanwhile, The VAR Guy spotted Vembu executives and managers at last week’s Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference 2010 (WPC10) in Washington, D.C., and again earlier this week at HostingCon in Austin, Texas. The executives flew from India to attend the two partner-centric events.

Translation: If Vembu was abandoning the channel, it wouldn’t be flying employees half-way around the world to meet with VARs, integrators and service providers.

Still, there’s always a risk of channel conflict as software companies move to SaaS models. CEO Sekar Vembu insists he’ll remain loyal to partners. The VAR Guy will be watching and listening to see if Vembu lives up to its word.

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