At the company's VeeamON 2019 conference, Timashev said he had predicted in 2013 that this milestone would be achieved within five years, but it took a little longer partly due to a faster than expected shift to subscription licensing, but also because a change in the Euro-USD exchange rate worked against the company.

Only 34 pure software companies have passed the US$1 billion mark, he pointed out.

Veeam now has more than 350,000 customers, and is currently adding 4000 net-new customers a month. Positive word of mouth is said to be the number one reason why new customers select Veeam.

The company regards its successful part in modernising data centres as its 'Act I.'

"However, the market is now changing. Backup is still critical, but customers are now building hybrid clouds with AWS, Azure, IBM and Google, and they need more than just backup," he said.

"To succeed in this changing environment, Veeam has had to adapt. Veeam, with its 60,000+ channel and service provider partners and the broadest ecosystem of technology partners, including Cisco, HPE, NetApp, Nutanix and Pure Storage, is best positioned to dominate the new cloud data management in our Act II. Our vision and strategy for the hybrid cloud will see us deliver the kind of success others can only dream of."

Providing simple, reliable and flexible products "made us successful in Act I, and will make us successful in Act II" because they are the characteristics customer still care about, he added.

Just as Veeam has dominated data management in the modern data centre, "almost all our focus" is on doing the same in the cloud, Veeam vice-president of product strategy told iTWire.

Veeam is continuing with its partner-centric strategy both in terms of sales (the company does not sell directly, even to its largest customers), and technology (platform providers, primary storage vendors, secondary storage vendors, and supporting software).

“From day one, we have focused on partnerships to deliver customer value. Working with our storage and cloud partners, we are delivering choice, flexibility and value to customers of all sizes. The new 'with Veeam' program epitomises this approach, and this strategy will help us extend our leadership even further,” said Timashev.

Disclosure: The writer attended VeeamOn 2019 as a guest of the company.