Cisco’s Vblock infrastructure architecture isn’t just for giant
solution providers anymore. IT distribution giant Ingram Micro
this week announced that it would make the Cisco, EMC and VMware’s
Vblock data center reference designs, the products to build them, and
the support needed to do it, available to the 2,500 of its channel
partners who are eligible to sell the “infrastructure packages.”
Ingram Micro says it is the first distributor to offer all the pieces
that make up a Vblock reference design – something Ingram says makes it
the right choice for those solution providers looking to get involved
with Vblock data center deployments.
Cisco announced its partnership with EMC and VMware
around Vblock in early November, calling it the Virtual Computing
Environment coalition. The data center infrastructure architecture
reference designs were created to help the companies’ channel partners
more easily sell and deploy the technology at customer sites. They
include compute, storage and virtualization. Components of the systems
are purchased separately and build according to the reference design.
Ingram Micro says its Vblock initiative will rely on the expertise of
its existing Cisco Business Unit resources and Infrastructure
Technology Solutions (ITS) Division associates. “These teams are
prepared to offer highly-targeted training and education courses
highlighting the business value of virtualized technologies and the new
technical certification requirements,” Ingram Micro said in a prepared
statement.
Ingram Micro’s offering also will include access to the company’s
advanced technical support and sales teams for pre-sales help around
the Vblock Infrastructure Packages.
“The Virtual Computing Environment coalition represents a significant
business proposition for the IT channel and Ingram Micro is eager to
provide our channel partners with an early market advantage,” says
Keith Bradley, senior executive vice president and president, Ingram
Micro North America, in a statement. “Our existing working relationship
with EMC and VMware, combined with more than a decade of experience
enabling partners to succeed with Cisco’s complete solutions portfolio,
allows us to outpace the competition and deliver a full go-to-market
advantage for virtualized solutions not available from any other
distribution partner right now.”
Ingram Micro’s VPN Dynamics subsidiary also will provide ongoing
technical training and certification support for engineers and data
center technicians seeking Vblock certification, the company says.
Furthermore, the distributor says it plans to spotlight the Vblock 0
and Vblock 1 Infrastructure Packages within its bi-coastal Solution
Centers located in Santa Ana, CA and Buffalo, NY in early 2010.
“These are just the first of many strategic initiatives and resources
that Ingram Micro is bringing to bear to support the growth of
virtualized computing technologies and our channel partners’ pursuit of
scalable data center solutions,” Bradley says.