Westcon to distribute Cisco UCS datacentre

Westcon Group has become the first global distributor for Cisco’s Unified Computing System (UCS) offering.

Under the new arrangement, the distributor will supply UCS solutions to qualified partners as well as provide training and support through its Comstor division. It will also introduce new programs and services around UCS over coming weeks.

In a statement, Westcon global executive vice-president, Bill Corbin, said UCS fitted into its plans to introduce disruptive technologies into the market and claimed the solution would be a significant addition to its mid-market portfolio.

In a former interview with ARN Westcon chief technology officer, Billy Hurley, said helping partners understand new and emerging technologies such as Cisco’s datacentre play were cornerstones of its strategy going forward.

Cisco global vice-president of distribution and worldwide channels, Dave O’Callaghan, meanwhile, said Comstor had an important role to play in the successful rollout and adoption of UCS through its partner network.

“Our mutual channel partners will benefit as Comstor Worldwide aligns its global operational infrastructure and becomes a proactive ambassador for Cisco Unified Computer System solutions,” he stated.

Optus subsidiary, Alphawest, became the first Australian partner to demonstrate UCS during the Cisco Networkers event in September.

Westcon Cisco practice manager in Australia, Sam Paris, said it was now skilling up its technical and sales staff around the datacentre technology and would look to build engineering expertise going forward. He flagged UCS as a significant technology for its tier-one and tier-two partners with a datacentre focus, as well as its EMC channel.

He also stressed the benefits of Cisco and Westcon's global relationship.

“It’s exciting as its gives our team a new focus. Right now, we are training all the staff on the datacentre products,” Paris said. “Traditionally, Cisco has been about routing, switching, security, wireless and collaboration. This is a new technology, not just a new part. As a result, we need to develop a broader understanding of things, such what is a datacentre.”

The announcement coincides with news that Cisco, EMC, VMware and Intel have formed a joint venture to develop products and services for customers wanting to run internal cloud architectures.

The partnership is set-up in two parts: One is a Virtual Computing Environment coalition to develop the new products; the other is a joint venture, called Acadia, to train customers and partners on how to install and use the products.

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