Compellent hits out at debate snub

Storage vendor Compellent has taken umbrage at being left out of a Westminster debate on the future of IT in the public sector that is being lead by Logicalis UK.

The integrator is spearheading a consortium of organisations, including IBM and CA, calling on central government for a £1bn IT stimulus package that will lead to more environmentally efficient and smarter public services. The initial debate took place at the Houses of Parliament late last week.

Andy Hardy, managing director of international sales at Compellent was so incensed at being left out that he wrote an open letter to prime minster Gordon Brown.

It stated: “There is a very grave risk that any stimulus package will be put to highly inefficient use, depriving UK public sector organisations of the best technology options while extending the deployment of ageing, inefficient and power-hungry IT solutions. Much of any stimulus payment, which comes from the taxpayers, will therefore be wasted.”

Speaking to CRN, Hardy said: “We think it is a bit of a shame that firms with innovative technology have not been included in this.”

He added that the channel will lose out as well. “Compellent is a 100 per cent channel company, and we think it is important that the channel is involved in this as well. If the government only recognises technology from a handful of firms it cuts out the channel’s ability to integrate the best solutions.”

Richard Blanford, managing director of VAR Fordway, said that although it is early days, it could give the wrong impression to the wider industry if just a few firms are seen to be involved.

“The way this has been hijacked by certain vendors is not good for the industry as a whole and it might taint the whole thing if the stimulus is seen to be driven by certain vendors,” he said. “It might put off more customers than it actually attracts. This should come from the industry, with an industry voice, rather than from a few specific voices.”

But Chris Gabriel, solutions director at Logicalis hit back.

“The idea of the £1bn stimulus is to benefit the IT industry as a whole and deliver efficiency working with local government on an open basis,” he said. “There wasn’t room on the panel debate for everyone, but there are a lot of companies, including smaller players involved already and it is certainly not closed to anyone.”