New Delhi: Network solutions provider Brocade announced that IBM will rebrand and sell select Brocade enterprise internet protocol (IP) networking products through authorized IBM Business Partners in India. Earlier this year, IBM and Brocade expanded their existing relationship for storage area networking (SAN) products to include enterprise IP networking products as well.

Now for the first time, IBM plans to sell the following Brocade IP networking product families through authorized IBM Business Partners in India, with additional products to be added over time. With regard to their broadened relationship, Brocade has been working with IBM to develop customized programs across many key functional areas, including sales, marketing, training/certification, and technical support/service.

"Our customers expect a complete, cost-effective solution that will help them build a dynamic infrastructure. They are not looking at point products from multiple vendors to build their datacenter," said Shailesh Agarwal, Vice President of Sales Programs, Systems and Technology Group, IBM India. "This partnership helps us be more responsive as it addresses specific requirements of a client's networking capabilities coupled with applications, that we can add to our existing portfolio of hardware and services for their datacenter build out," Agarwal added.

"This expanded relationship with IBM underscores Brocade's long-term commitment to our open partnering strategy that we believe will help deliver next-generation enterprise networking solutions in a pragmatic, non-proprietary way to protect customers' IT investments," said Ashis Guha, Regional Manager, Brocade India. "IBM's selection of the Brocade high-performance networking product family provides customers with a very competitive choice in their IT infrastructure. We look forward to bringing these solutions to market through IBM's global sales channel," Guha added.

Brocade's go-to-market routes for its enterprise IP networking portfolio are strengthened and diversified by this new relationship. Customers in India will now be able to purchase Brocade networking products and services through authorized IBM Business Partners. "The India Networking Equipment market has started showing early signs of a recovery and is expected to come back into its own by mid-2010," said Surjyadeb Goswami, Manager, Communications Research, IDC India. "With the government and Telecom Service Provider (TSP) segments on a high investment spree, the India market presents a distinct opportunity for vendors to increase their share of the pie."