C2000 helps out HP
Distributor promises NAS and SAN training for its specialist staff
Broadline distributor Computer 2000 (C2000) is aiming to help Hewlett-Packard (HP) boost its storage sales by providing SAN and NAS training to all of its HP specialist staff.
HP has been focusing on storage since Carly Fiorina, the vendor's chief executive, blamed the Enterprise Storage and Servers (ESS) group for HP's lower than expected revenue, although overall sales met expectations.
She said there had been "unacceptable execution in enterprise servers and storage". Turnover in the ESS group fell by five per cent, with storage falling by 15 per cent since last year.
Russell Blackburn, manager of the business unit at C2000, told CRN the new courses are being entirely funded by the distributor.
"The intention is to increase the salesforce's knowledge so it is better qualified to deal with enquiries from resellers. The overall aim is to provide a better service to resellers," he said.
"By making this investment and equipping our staff to deal with both sales and technical queries, we're providing a firm foundation on which resellers can build their sales, supported by a team that has real understanding of HP SAN and NAS solutions."
Donal Madden, business manager for HP enterprise at rival distributor Bell Microproducts, said the move makes sense because C2000 has always been stronger in the SME space, where there is limited demand for higher-end SAN and NAS systems.
C2000 has mainly sold storage attached directly to servers, but now it wants to move into networked storage, Madden said.
He claimed two market trends lie behind the C2000 announcement: networked storage has gone more mainstream, while the market has got more competitive.
"EMC, Hitachi Data Systems and so on wouldn't get out of bed for deals of less than £500,000, but with mainframe and high-end storage growth declining, they've gone more mid-range. Now we're seeing them sniffing around the £90,000- £100,000 deals," he said.