Huawei executives admit the firm must restructure to meet its goal of growing the proportion of cloud business generated outside China.
The firm aims to increase its level of overseas Cloud business from 25% currently to between 60% and 70%, but the change will require a rethink of its sales strategy, director of cloud computing marketing Ron Raffensperger says.
Domestic sales teams currently focused on selling products including switches and antennas, must change tack to sell Cloud services to customers outside China, Raffensperger told delegates at the ITU Telecom World event in Geneva.
Establishing the right partner relationships is also crucial for global Cloud expansion. The firm will seek systems integrators and software application partners with experience in specific vertical markets including healthcare, transportation, and e-government applications, Raffensperger says.
Huawei is also focusing on software for the cloud, particularly around automation and cloud management, which Raffensperger claims is a major differentiator among cloud providers.
International cloud services will play a key role in Huawei’s aim to double sales at its Enterprise business unit to $4 billion (€2.8 billion) in 2011, division president William Xu says. The firm plans similar growth for 2012 – taking sales to $7 billion – as it seeks to increase revenues to between $15 billion and $20 billion by 2015.