Storage VAR GlassHouse and software vendor Computer Associates (CA) have expanded their relationship to include more consultancy and services.

The two firms will now be able to offer end-users advice on enterprise storage management, storage best practice, storage management and data protection. Both firms are hoping to target the uncertainty surrounding data compliance and regulation.

Steve Widen, director of product marketing at CA, told CRN: “This extends the [storage] services abilities of CA into areas, such as business strategy and impact services, that we don’t provide. We can now provide customers with a complete solution.”

The partnership will begin in the US and be rolled out into Europe over the next few months.

Richard Scannell, senior vice-president at GlassHouse, told CRN that the agreement covers two main storage services areas: strategy practice, which will help end-users determine where their businesses are heading, and implementation advice on particular storage products.

Scannell added that the CA partnership also builds on its 2004 stock acquisitions of storage resellers Source Consulting and Sagitta Performance Systems (CRN, 13 June 2004). It also helps CA to expand its European presence, he said.

“This will help us to broaden our reach by taking advantage of CA’s customer base,” Scannel added. “We will also use it as an opportunity to expand further into Europe.”

Steve Duplessie, founder of analyst the Enterprise Strategy Group, said: “By making use of the combined ser-vices and software offered by CA and GlassHouse, customers will be able to quickly implement best practices for cost reduction, compliance readiness, disaster recovery, email and message management, and backup and recovery.”

james_sherwood@vnu.co.uk