Sun merger shines in Pillar's favour
Storage vendor claims Sun-Oracle merger has boosted its latest recruitment drive
In the shade: Sun-Oracle merger has disillusioned some VARs
Pillar Data Systems has said that the fallout from the Sun-Oracle mega merger has led to an increase in requests to join its ranks from disenfranchised Sun resellers.
Oracle completed its acquisition of Sun Microsystems in January, and announced it would take 4,000 of Sun’s largest customers direct.
Two months later, Oracle declared that it would also end Sun’s long-standing reseller agreement with Hitachi Data Systems (HDS).
Chris Jones, vice president of EMEA at Pillar Data Systems, said the termination of the HDS contract has had a profound effect on the Sun channel, leaving a number of resellers without the equipment needed to compete for work.
“We have heard from customers who have contacted Sun resellers to carry out work, only to be told that they are not able to submit a bid,” said Jones.
This has led to an increase in requests from Sun resellers wanting to partner with Pillar, he claimed.
“We have recruited some Sun resellers, but also some HP partners that are fed up competing with other players with very similar solutions,” added Jones.
However, the company said it has no plans to over-populate its partner programme with disgruntled Sun resellers.
Adrian Groeneveld, marketing director of EMEA at Pillar Data Systems, said: “The company has been carefully recruiting partners for months, and it makes no sense to us to jeopardise that by being opportunistic.”
Phil Gallagher, global president of Sun Microsystems distribution partner Avnet Technology Solutions, said the changes made to Sun’s channel may have had a negative impact, but Oracle is working hard to offset them.
“It has announced an Oracle-Sun dedicated team to help us through the transition and to drive growth through the channel,” added Gallagher.