Fujitsu Launches Virtualization-Friendly Blade Server

Fujitsu claims that reseller channel partners who are looking for an edge in today’s server and data center market may find a happier home with Fujitsu than with its larger rivals in the server space—Hewlett-Packard, IBM and Dell. Fujitsu, No. 4 in the server space, is going up against its competitors with an integrated solution similar to those that have been introduced by HP, Cisco, Sun and IBM, providing the vertical stack from hardware to software—dubbed the Dynamic Cube or Primergy BX900 blade server system, featuring Intel Xeon 5500 Nehalem processors and an improved version of Fujitsu’s virtualization management solution that can manage virtualization on Dell, HP and IBM servers, too.

Fujitsu points out that reseller channel partners who sell this solution will find that they are not running up against an overdistributed channel. The company currently claims 160 to 170 enterprise partners in the United States, according to Matt McManus, channel chief, and is looking to double that number. But that still leaves plenty of room for everyone, McManus says. Fujitsu is looking to those partners to help the company achieve its goal of doubling its server sales by 2010.

The product launch marks Fujitsu’s first since it reorganized the server business to unify its branding and naming of products across all geographies, a move that is likely to quell confusion among reseller channel partners and end customers alike.

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For example, previously if a U.S. customer was looking at a product on a U.K. Website or in a U.K. trade publication, that product’s name would not line up with what is available in the United States. Partners and customers should find the unified naming much simpler to understand and navigate, says Richard McCormack, senior vice president of the Server and Solutions Business at Fujitsu America.

In addition, Fujitsu is reorganizing the North American business around customer market verticals rather than internal product areas. In keeping with that, the company has launched health care-, retail- and education-focused organizations, among others.

“These are the key areas where we are looking to build value-add now and in the future,” says McCormack.

On the health care side, McManus points out that $20 billion in stimulus dollars are available for electronic medical records (EMRs) alone. That’s something that Fujitsu is hoping to help its partners tap into, he says.

Fujitsu sells its server and storage products through IT distributor Tech Data in North America, and its storage projects are also sold through Synnex.