Four distributors woven into Brocade's Tapestry
Vendor signs firms to programme, but denies that expansion will lead to fierce competition
Network storage vendor Brocade has expanded its relationships with distributors ACAL, Bell Microproducts, Demand IT and InTechnology by signing them to its Tapestry Fabric Partner Programme.
The programme was launched in September for partners reselling the vendor’s Tapestry family of products. All four distributors will be expected to recruit VARs and educate them on Brocade’s Tapestry product line.
However, Timm Hoyat, channel sales manager for EMEA and Latin America at Brocade, denied that its distributor expansion will create fierce competition for sales.
“With ACAL and Bell we had relationships on the Silkworm programme, and with the other two [Demand IT and InTechnology] we worked in OEM areas. The market is big, but where there is some overlap, competition breeds success and there is plenty of opportunity,” he said.
Hoyat added that it is difficult to predict what Brocade’s VAR levels will expand to.
“It’s not the quantity of VARs that’s important, it’s the quality. Our distributors must be able to educate and position the new VARs,” he said.
Brocade also told CRN that it expects to launch a new partner programme next month that will be a fusion of its Tapestry and Silkworm programmes.
Wessel Graatsma, chief executive of Demand IT, said: “SAN-based applications are making the storage network more strategic because they reduce cost and complexity, and address real customer issues. We are excited about this distribution agreement and are seeing compelling demand and interest in the market.”
Mark Walker, director of open storage at Bell Microproducts, said: “Tapestry is a diversification for Brocade. The channel opportunity is that it brings new solutions initiatives and there is plenty of opportunity in the market for VARs.
“We would welcome the opportunity to speak to more resellers about Brocade, but are not looking for more than about 20 committed VARs to join in the short-term,” he said.