Ingram Micro announced on Nov.12 it will offer Cisco's MDS 9000 Series of storage area networking products, including both fabric switches and directors, allowing partners to bulk up their storage solution line cards.

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Cisco's network-enabled storage products enable Ingram Micro channel partners to build storage solutions that include virtualized networks and remote backup, as well as business continuity and data protection services, said Scott Look, vice president of infrastructure technology solutions for North America.

The Santa Ana, Calif. distributor said that products are available to select Cisco channel partners that hold MDS Fabric Switching or Network Hosted Storage Authorized Technology Provider designations in the United States and Canada.

Ingram's ITS (Infrastructure Technology Solutions) Division, launched in June to assist partners selling and supporting complex infrastructure solutions, including blade servers, storage, software and services, will help solution providers achieve the appropriate Cisco designations, said Holly Garcia, Ingram's senior director of vendor management.

Ingram Micro's dedicated Cisco team and ITS Division are offering technical and sales training, as well as general market education and targeted certification assistance through the distributor's Solution Centers in Buffalo, N.Y. and Santa Ana, Calif.

Field resources such as credit analysts and sales, marketing, and technical engineers are also available, Garcia said.