Fusion-io fuses with channelfusion

Storage vendor appoints start-up VAD as exclusive UK route to market for newly acquired hybrid storage technology

Start-up VAD channelfusion has added another vendor to its kitbag in the shape of storage player Fusion-io.

The distributor, launched by former Avnet exec Bruce Hockin in May, is aiming to recruit and manage a channel of about a dozen partners for the vendor's ioControl hybrid storage offering and has already signed up three. Warrington-based channelfusion will be providing resellers with demo facilities and marketing and pre-sales support.

"We are mainly looking at storage and virtualisation specialists who have got traction in the mid-market and are not encumbered by relationships with the likes of EMC," said Hockin. "We want people who are prepared to invest in innovation to get value from the relationship."

Chris McCall, Fusion-io's senior director of ioControl, claimed the vendor's newest distribution partner is "ideally positioned to support the channel in helping customers turn their raw data into real-time, actionable intelligence".

"No matter their size, companies require serious performance to support a variety of mission-critical applications, and Fusion ioControl delivers on the need for flash-fuelled performance with quality of service guarantees to support VDI, Microsoft Exchange or any database challenges faced by small-to-medium enterprises," he added.

Today's announcement, which is an exclusive agreement in the UK, marks the fifth manufacturer in the nascent distributor's portfolio, having launched with a four-strong roster of Cleversafe, Emulex, Mellanox and Nimbus. Hockin (pictured) claimed ioControl - which Fusion-io acquired through its buyout of NexGen in April - plugs a gap in his firm's kitbag.

"The challenge is so many people still think of storage as just being about capacity and not its ability to provide speed; this solution opens up a lot of doors to us for people that want capacity and speed," he added. "I am amazed at how responsive people are to this technology. It is a great technology that is better - and more cost-effective - than what's out there, and Fusion-io has a fantastic brand in the flash-storage industry."