Alphawest gets Cisco Unified Computing provider status

Alphawest has become one of the first Cisco partners to achieve the vendor’s Data Centre Unified Computing Authorised Technology Provider status.

General manager of technology solutions, Ian Smith, said gaining the status was another milestone in the development of Alphawest’s managed service capabilities.

Cisco’s unified computing approach comprises network, computational, storage access and virtualisation resources in one system. It aims to reduce IT infrastructure costs and complexity, while helping to extend capital assets and improve business agility.

The Optus-owned integrator and Cisco Gold partner now has the ability to develop integrated datacentre solutions and tailor them to meet specific customer needs.

“We’ve been tracking these developments with Cisco over a period of time and developing our skills in anticipation of these new products,” Smith said. “We’re working with Cisco right through to the development phase of the product.”

Some of the benefits associated with the status include early access to equipment, training and technology.

“We’re already working with some customers in this space and it gives us the ability to bring these types of solutions to customers earlier,” he said.

To obtain the status, Alphawest had to expand its skill sets and capabilities. The integrator already has networking, computing, virtualisation, storage and integrated services practices to help customers make the unified computing transition.

“Any customer that is operating a datacentre themselves, would be challenged with space and power,” he said. “The amount of network interfaces and bandwidth you need in these datacentres to run various business applications and the management is becoming more complex.

“This is all about coming up with a simpler and more standard solution that addresses some of the issues.”

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