Adaptec and Brocade to shore up Sans

Adaptec and Brocade have announced a strategic partnership to market storage opportunities and support for interoperable multi-vendor Sans for resellers.

Adaptec and Brocade have announced a strategic partnership to market storage opportunities and support for interoperable multi-vendor Sans for resellers.

The first fruit of the Brocade-Adaptec alliance will be released early next year. This development will increase the interoperability of San components.

Paul Trowbridge, European marketing manager at Brocade, told Computer Reseller News that networking is about mixing and matching multi-vendor products.

The interaction of these products, he said, is an essential element of a successful San.

"Adaptec and Brocade are both leading vendors at the heart of standard-setting in the development of Sans," said Trowbridge. "This agreement will succeed because two leading vendors will work together to build compatible products, which is very important to San development."

Tony Ruame, director at Brocade reseller Redstor, believes that the interoperability issue is an old story.

"What you do get from vendor co-operation is better customer choice, and with more competition the market moves on. From a reseller's point of view, the increased choice makes it easier to select the right component for a customer," Ruame said.

The Brocade and Adaptec deal will also expand the base of customers and channel partners for both companies.

Trowbridge said: "Adaptec has a very strong presence in the SME market, whereas Brocade has always been more high-end. The deal will help [Brocade] reach more and more customers."

The deal offers more than interoperability. Because the two companies are working at many levels, resellers have a wider choice of Sans. This allows them to cater for customers' needs.

Separately, Distributor Hammer will soon offer Adaptec's new SCSI Raid product family in its digital storage offering. Hammer joins Ideal as a specialist UK distributor with access to the entire Adaptec product range.

The company will now work with all the vendors in its specified product category. Paul Sangster, joint managing director at Hammer, said: "What it means to our customers is that, through us, they have access to the complete range of products available."

First published in Computer Reseller News