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Avnet to distribute Cisco's datacenter products
By siliconindia
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Friday, 18 December 2009, 18:12 IST
Bangalore: Avnet Technology Solutions will soon carry Cisco's datacenter products in the U.S. and Canada, including Cisco's Unified Computing System blade server, reports Channel Web.
Other distributors of Cisco's Unified Computing System include, Westcon Group and broadline distributors Ingram Micro and Tech Data. The deal gives Avnet, which is also HP's top distributor, the ability to distribute Cisco products in North America.
As part of the deal, Avnet will carry the Nexus datacenter family of switches, the MDS family of fiber channel SAN switches, Catalyst E-Blade switches Unified Computing System (UCS) blade and rack servers, Application Control Engine (ACE) and WAN Optimization (WAAS) products.
"With the incredible amount of convergence taking place within the datacenter, it is critical to provide customers with complete solutions designed to address their business challenges," said Jeff Bawol, President of Avnet Technology Solutions, Americas to Channel Web. "This will enable Avnet's channel partners to address the datacenter market holistically with an exciting class of products designed to improve efficiency and reduce operating costs."
Avnet CEO Roy Vallee has recently addressed the Cisco rumors at the Raymond James IT Supply Chain Conference in New York, noting that it was in talks with Cisco and that it was important for Avnet to increase its presence in the networking world.
Avnet plans to offer a suite of consulting, integration, implementation and managed services to complement the Cisco products and also will develop market enablement programs based for its SecurePath, StoragePath and Avnet VirtualPath initiatives.
"Avnet brings proven expertise in helping partners extend their reach into new markets and customer segments," said Dave O'Callaghan, Vice President of distribution, worldwide channels for Cisco. "Avnet has deep technical experience and sophisticated integration capabilities. We feel confident that these attributes will help Cisco and our channel partners accelerate our mutual success in the datacenter market and capitalize on new revenue-generating opportunities."
Avnet is developing a dedicated business unit to sell and service the Cisco datacenter product suite, a group to be led by Chris Swahn, Vice President and General Manager of the business unit.
