Reseller Esteem has become Sun Microsystems’ first UK partner to secure the vendor’s Infrastructure Delivery Option (IDO) accreditation.

IDO is a Sun Partner Advantage (SPA) accreditation that authorises partners to install both mid-range and high-end Sun hardware.

High-end systems have to be installed by Sun or an IDO accredited partner otherwise the systems warranty is not valid.

Alastair Kitching, chief operating officer at Esteem, which has been a Sun partner since 1990, told CRN: “Other partner programmes are about marketing and rebates; the IDO accreditation is about differentiating partners.

“Having the IDO means our investment is protected from unauthorised companies trying to install the mid- and high-end systems.”

Kitching said the IDO accreditation programme took between three and six months to complete.

Paul Flannery, director of partner sales at Sun Microsystems UK and Ireland, said: “Sun has developed IDO so our customers can be confident their IT systems will deliver a dependable service. Esteem has attained IDO accreditation and can offer this service to our joint customers.”