Comstor unveils cloud battle plans

Cisco distributor hopes to formally launch Rainmaker tool to UK partners in May

Distributor Comstor is all set to make its debut in the cloud space after testing out its Rainmaker tool with Cisco resellers in New Orleans.

Rainmaker will allow Comstor to deliver Cisco products over the cloud, with ScanSafe set to be the first technology available to resellers through the mechanism.

Jon Pritchard, president of Comstor Worldwide (pictured), said he hoped the tool would go live in a limited number of countries, including the UK, on 1 May.

Resellers can hook into the tool, which also has billing and reporting capabilities, through their own portals.

"We are starting with ScanSafe, and then maybe WebEx, but we anticipate that over time it will grow into a portal for all the vendors on all our brands to sell into their partner bases," said Pritchard. "Partners can use it to create their own private cloud mechanism."

Pritchard said Rainmaker dovetailed nicely into Cisco's own cloud partner strategy, which formed the centrepiece of its recent partner summit in New Orleans.

He also hailed Cisco's re-emphasis on its core routing and switching technologies, as well as its discovery tools that allow partners to perform health checks on their customers' networks.

"The refocus on that is fantastic," said Pritchard.

"It is about ensuring that customers' networks are as healthy as possible, especially with Tandberg coming down the line, which is a hugely bandwidth-heavy product."