WhiteGold Solutions has partnered with storage vendor, Isilon Systems, to kick-start its newly established storage practice.

Isilon provides clustered storage systems and software for digital content that enables enterprises to transform data into relevant information. WhiteGold managing director, Dominic Whitehand, said the distributor had been thinking about breaking into the storage space for some time and tracking Isilon's technology.

"We approached them when we felt the time was right to introduce clustered digital storage to the local market through our channel," he said. "We can kick off our new storage division with a technology that is very different to the competition and provides some distinct advantages for customers who need to store unstructured data such as PDF files, images, music and video.

"We have been asked by many of our channel partners to carry storage, networking and other technologies - this is a natural progression for WhiteGold."

Whitehand said it would target markets where unstructured data was most prevalent including legal, insurance, military, pharmaceutical, ISPs, media and telecommunications verticals.

"We are hoping for a large boost in revenue, given the scalability and effectiveness of the Isilon technology," he said.

Incentives for resellers included high margins, and pre- and post-sales support, Whitehand said.

"Storage is a huge market and because of the quality of our channel partners, it's a natural market for us to address with the right technology," he said.

ASI Solutions and TechTel are also Isilon partners.

Isilon's newly promoted Asia-Pacific vice-president, Michael Burnie, said WhiteGold had complementary products in its range and was the right fit with its business model. Burnie replaced Tom Pettigrew.

"All the things WhiteGold sells they have won awards for and Dominic was very passionate about the product," he said. "They have channels all over Australia and the right business model mix."