VMblog:  Can you give VMblog readers a quick overview of the company?

Tony Liau:  Founded by the original co-founders of Veeam-Ratmir Timashev and Andrei Baronov-Object First is building the best storage for Veeam. We achieve this by delivering a solution that is secure, simple, and powerful. Our vision is that nobody will have to pay a data ransom ever again.

VMblog:  What will VeeamON attendees be most interested to know about your company/technology? Why will they want to add you to their MUST SEE list at the show?

Liau:  17 years ago, Ratmir and Andrei had a vision for creating the best backup for VMware. They completely disrupted the backup and recovery market with Veeam, which now has over $1B in revenue and 400,000+ customers. Now, Ratmir and Andrei are out to disrupt the storage market by creating the best storage for Veeam. VeeamON attendees will want to come see how Ratmir and Andrei's vision is coming to life.

VMblog:  Diving into your company's technology a bit more, can you give readers a few examples of how your offerings are unique?  What are your differentiators?

Liau:  Ransomware-proof and immutable out-of-the-box, Ootbi by Object First delivers secure, simple, and powerful backup storage for Veeam users. Our three key differentiators:

• Secure - zero access to root prevents malicious data encryption.
• Simple - 15 minutes from box to backup to a fully secured environment.
• Powerful - 4.0GB/s ingest speed supercharges backup and recovery.

VMblog:  What does your partnership with Veeam look like?  How does your product fit within the Veeam ecosystem?

Liau:  Object First is a Veeam Alliance Program partner with Veeam Ready status. Object First has gone through strict qualification processes to meet functional and performance standards, so customers can be assured that our solution is fully integrated and compatible with Veeam Backup & Replication.

When it comes to how Object First fits in the Veeam ecosystem, we see the data world as two distinct technology layers: the data management layer (backup, recovery, and data orchestration) and the storage layer, where the data will live perpetually. Veeam is arguably the best data management platform, but because Veeam is software-defined and software only, Veeam has always relied on its storage partners to deliver the hardware storage layer. As a result, Veeam has the largest ecosystem of storage partners and remains the best data management solution. What Object First has created, is the best storage platform to compliment Veeam's data management platform.

VMblog:  Can you give us a sneak peek as to what you will be showing off at your booth this year?

Liau:  We'll be showcasing the best storage for Veeam - Ootbi by Object First. A ransomware-proof and immutable out-of-the-box purpose-built backup storage appliance that is secure, simple, and powerful.

VMblog:  What are some of the big challenges that you believe VeeamON attendees are facing in 2023?  And how does your company help solve them?

Liau:  We know ransomware is not only inevitable, it's incredibly expensive. Prevention and detection are important, but when (not if) you get hit with ransomware, your best bet, and your last line of defense is restore from backup. And because backups are now the primary target for ransomware, you need to make sure you implement a resilient data protection strategy, which means you need at least one immutable copy of data. To accomplish that, you either need to go through the hassle of building and maintaining a hardened Linux repository, or you can deploy a turnkey solution like Ootbi by Object First-which is immutable out-of-the-box, super secure with zero root access, so simple it is box to backup in 15 minutes, and provides all the performance you need to meet your backup and recovery requirements.

VMblog:  If you were giving the keynote presentation at VeeamON 2023, what would your topic be about?

Liau:  How to build resilient data protection. What that really means, and why immutability is critical for ransomware defense.

VMblog:  Aside from the technology, anything noteworthy you'd like the attendees to take notice of?

Liau:  Our theme is "Never Be Game Over." We'll have a full arcade cabinet inside our booth running the classic Space Invaders and showing how Ootbi can protect users from the threat of ransomware. The person with the highest score will win our grand prize - a Steam Deck!

On top of that, LEGO lovers need to come by for a chance to score some cool sets.

We're also throwing a big party on Tuesday - Ratmir's Legendary Vodka Happy Hour. VeeamON attendees should stop by our booth to see how to score tickets to this must-attend occasion.

VMblog:  Attendees are ready to once again throw some amazing tchotchke into their swag bags.  Are you giving away anything special at this event?

Liau:  Aside from debuting our super cool "Never Be Game Over" shirts and socks, VeeamON attendees can stop by our booth for some Ootbi polarized sunglasses which are perfect for Miami Beach!