StorMagic posts 36% growth as VMware rivals gain ground

StorMagic recorded 36% annual recurring revenue growth in its latest fiscal year, marking its 20th anniversary.

Demand increased as customers looked for alternatives to VMware and sought to control costs in edge, remote-office, and small data-centre environments. Hardware shortages and higher equipment costs also influenced buying decisions over the past year.

StorMagic sells virtualisation and storage software for organisations that want to run workloads on-site without relying on larger, more complex infrastructure stacks. Recent growth was accompanied by the expansion of its global sales team and partner network.

The company also reshaped its leadership team. Susan Odle became Chief Executive Officer, Scott Mann joined as Senior Vice President of Worldwide Sales, and John Serino joined as Vice President of Marketing. Dave Hallmen, who StorMagic described as a virtualisation industry veteran, also joined its non-executive board of directors.

The figures come during a disruption in the virtualisation market. Broadcom's acquisition of VMware has led many customers and partners to reassess pricing, licensing and long-term technology choices, creating an opening for smaller software vendors with more focused products.

Against that backdrop, interest has grown in software that can run on existing hardware and support distributed IT operations. Customers are also looking at how to prepare infrastructure for artificial intelligence workloads while keeping tighter control over budgets and deployment decisions.

"This year, two market conditions began to drive customers to consider virtualisation alternatives: the Broadcom/VMware acquisition, and the widespread shortage of hardware availability and the associated rising costs," said Susan Odle, Chief Executive Officer of StorMagic.

"As we enter FY27, StorMagic is well-positioned to continue to help customers navigate these significant challenges, through its software-only, cost-saving, hardware-agnostic solutions and overall value proposition - which has been consistent for 20 years," Odle added.

Product changes

Alongside the revenue increase, StorMagic outlined a series of product updates. It released four versions of its SvHCI platform, numbered 2.0 to 2.3, adding snapshots, changes to virtual machine import and export, and support for stretch clusters.

It also released version 6.7 of its SvSAN product, adding compatibility updates for newer hypervisors and performance improvements. The changes are aimed at customers running smaller-scale infrastructure at the edge or in branch locations, where companies often prefer incremental upgrades to major hardware refreshes.

Partner push

Channel sales remain central to StorMagic's commercial strategy. The company launched a new global partner programme and partner portal as part of a broader effort to expand routes to market.

It also announced a series of alliances, including a global partnership with HiveRadar, an EMEA distribution agreement with QBS Technology Group, a global original equipment manufacturer agreement with SNUC, a virtual OEM collaboration with HPE, and a partnership with network switch supplier Mako Networks.

These agreements suggest StorMagic is trying to widen access to its software through distributors, hardware makers and specialist technology partners rather than relying solely on direct sales. In the edge infrastructure market, partner coverage is often critical because customers are geographically dispersed and deployments tend to be smaller than large data centre projects.

Brand activity

Beyond product and sales changes, StorMagic completed a corporate rebrand and launched a podcast called PodMagic. It also said its products were recognised across 12 industry award programmes, including the Globee Awards, DCS Awards, MSP Channel Awards, Network Computing and the Data Breakthrough Awards.

StorMagic added that the company and its executives received recognition across 11 more award programmes, including CRN, Network Computing and G2. Those awards covered leadership, customer service, channel performance and company performance.

The company was founded in 2006 and has focused on software for edge infrastructure, remote office and branch office sites, and smaller data centre environments. Its latest growth figure suggests shifts in the virtualisation market are creating room for specialist suppliers that promise simpler deployment and lower upfront spending.

For customers reviewing life after VMware, the market now appears to offer a wider range of contenders than in previous years, with StorMagic positioning itself among the suppliers seeking to benefit from that shift.