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NAS vendor Synology has appointed a new MD to head up its UK, Ireland and Nordic business.
Yi-Lin Huang has worked at the firm’s Taiwan headquarters for more than 10 years – and has ambitious growth plans for the firm, he spoke to PCR about the future of the business.
What have you learnt from Taiwan that you can bring to Synology in the UK?
I Joined Synology in 2005, starting as program and product developer. Throughout the years I’ve managed the tech support team for global and project management.
Everything we have done at HQ that has been successful will be replicated in the UK, such as team expansion, high levels of customer service, product training, launch events etc. My role will be focused on the expansion of the team and the company, and to continue to provide quality service to all of our users.
What kind of growth has Synology seen in the UK and what are your targets for the future?
We have averaged more than 50 per cent of growth in the UK in the last three to five years. This is very strong growth for us and we will continue to have a target of no less than 40 per cent of growth for 2015 and beyond.
We are introducing new technologies, products and features that we are confident will bring us incremental gains. The public is getting to know more about NAS now, so the demand for Synology products will continue to increase.
How popular is the Networked Attached Storage (NAS) market today? Have you seen consistent growth there or a bit of a dip of late?
It’s very popular. The best way to show this is to go to Google Trends and type in Synology for UK. You will see a consistent, healthy 45-degree climb. That’s very rare growth in today’s business.
What about surveillance – what are your ambitions in that space?
We attend IFSEC every year, will focus on surveillance-specific advertising in Q2 and Q3 and also we are a finalist in the Benchmark Awards 2015 (surveillance specific media).
Who is your biggest end customer in the UK – home users or businesses?
With our products, it has always been heavier on the consumer side as we didn’t launch business models until a later date. However, with our aggressive strategy for the business market, since 2011 we’ve been launching several new lines of products to target this area. The balance is shifting and we are starting to reach a 50/50 split for consumer and business.
Are you looking to partner with new retailers in 2015?
We will continue to support our current partners and at the same time welcome new ones – we have no plans to slow down. We are very happy with the partnerships we currently have with all of our customers, whether it’s online, retailer, or reseller. We are very grateful for their support and dedication to Synology.
What is Synology’s biggest challenge in the market?
Our biggest challenge is to continue to share and educate the public on the benefits of having a NAS in their life and workplace. This will become our biggest opportunity too.
Following your partnership with Warner Bros and the Jupiter Ascending film, are you planning other movie marketing deals?
We are currently working with Warner Bros to promote the DVD and digital release of Interstellar in the UK, and we are currently in talks with them and other production companies in relation to future cinema releases. It’s a very exciting industry to be a partner in.
Synology has been involved in the growing eSports gaming scene. What are you doing in that area at the moment?
We have just signed up to exhibit at Insomnia here in the UK and DreamHack in Sweden. This will be the first time the UK office has participated in the gaming industry and we look forward to delivering our products to this market. Interestingly enough, a colleague who works in our German office was once a FIFA World Champion.
What’s next for Synology?
We are a very product focused company and listen heavily to the feedback of our users. We want to be unique, creative and always a step ahead of the game. We will continue to do this and continue to bring exciting products to our users.
