Stratus continues channel push

Server manufacturer offers fault-tolerant range

Server manufacturer Stratus has released new fault-tolerant (FT) servers to its channel following the launch of its partner programme.

Late last year the company appealed to the channel to help it sell its lower-end Wintel servers. The firm said it is continuing with its channel push.

"At the beginning of this year we began to shift from a 100 per cent direct to a 100 per cent indirect channel strategy for our FT servers," said David Chalmers, director product and technology at Stratus.

Last week the vendor introduced the 6500 and 5240 FT servers using the Windows operating system, based on Intel chip technology, which will allow it to compete head-on with the larger-scale Windows and Linux servers.

Vernon Turner, an analyst at IDC, said Stratus needed the channel. "In the commoditised market you either need a big direct sales team or a very good indirect sales force," he said.

He added that the products, which cost about £20,000 per server, will open Stratus up to a wider user base.

The vendor named tplc as its sole UK distributor last month, to help it sign appropriate resellers. Stratus is hoping to sign up 50 resellers through the relationship, but did not rule out the possibility of appointing another distributor in the future.

The company is targeting the banking, manufacturing and emergency services with its servers, which it has claimed have an average of only five minutes downtime per year.

"We want to sign about 10 resellers for each vertical market, but we will not turn away those that do not fit into a particular market," said Chalmers.

Ian Shanahan, Stratus business manager at tplc, said this is a realistic number and that tplc is already in discussions with some resellers.

"If the success we have had with our Sun business is anything to go by it will be just a question of signing the most appropriate VARs," he said.