IBM and Double-Take link arms for storage sales push

Vendors announce product bundle aimed at driving up the storage sales for Big Blue partners

Ian Masters: Double-Take hopes deal will lead to some new partner signings

Double-Take Software is offering its flagship data back up product at a reduced price to end users that purchase storage from IBM.

The deal is being offered via Big Blue’s channel partners that bundle Double-Take Backup with products from IBM’s System Storage DS3000 and DS3500 range.

To encourage take up of the deal, Double-Take is also offering end users the chance to download a free 30-day trial of its product prior to purchase.

Ian Masters, UK sales and marketing director at Double-Take, said the deal should generate additional sales revenues for IBM's partners.

“It is great to be able to bring the two technologies together,” he said. “For the [IBM] channel, this is an opportunity to increase the value of their storage sales by including our product."

Masters also hopes Double-Take Backup’s exposure to the IBM channel will prompt more resellers to sign up to its partner programme.

“In the past, our access to the IBM channel has been fairly limited and we are hoping that the added exposure they will gain through this deal will lead to some of them deciding to partner up with us," said Masters.

However, any IBM partners that do decide to team up with Double-Take would still have to go through IBM's channel to be able to offer the backup product to end users at the lower price point, he added.

Mark Olmstead, IBM’s worldwide sales leader for entry and mid-range storage products, said: “With this new Double-Take Software offering, DS3000 and DS3500 customers can choose a host-based IP replication solution at a very aggressive price point."