Adaptec guides VARs on best way to sell SAS

Vendor develops booklet with aim of helping its resellers understand new SAS technology

Storage vendor Adaptec has developed a reseller guide for selling Serial Attached SCSI (SAS), after it claimed the industry was moving towards the new storage technology.

The booklet – Profitably Navigating the Serial Attached SCSI Transition – has been designed to help Adaptec’s resellers understand the technology, its revenue potential and how to migrate end-users over to it.

Russ Johnson, vice-president of global sales at Adaptec, said: “We wanted to give resellers the chance to move into the space and also to enable them to educate the end-user about SAS. It’s the next big storage technology from a hardware standpoint.”

SAS will be the most prevalent multivolume hard-drive interface by 2007. It will account for 40 per cent of market sales by 2009, according to a recent report by Gartner.

Adaptec described SAS as a high-performance drive designed mainly for the enterprise market, but which may also suit specific verticals. The vendor is also planning to bring to market a “full family of SAS products”.

Last year Adaptec launched a series of seminars to help resellers understand the mobile backup arena, following its development of a new attached storage array (CRN, 5 April 2004). Johnson said that resellers could also take advantage of other educational avenues to learn about SAS technology.

“Should resellers require it, we will supplement the guide with face-to-face training sessions, which will be an optional extra from their channel programmes,” Johnson added.

In February, Adaptec partnered with IBM to incorporate its zero channel serial attached SCSI Raid controller into Big Blue’s X3 architecture and eServer xSeries 366 product.

Gerard Marlow, business development manager at Hammer, said: “SAS is one of the biggest technological changes to hit the storage market. Education of the channel is key to its transition and Adaptec’s guide will be very advantageous.”