Johannesburg, 20 Apr 2005
IT infrastructure and solutions provider, Datacentrix, has been accepted as the first South African company to enter HP`s exclusive StorageWorks Elite Partner programme. The programme recognises and rewards HP partners` combined investments in providing enterprise storage solutions and services.
According to Vic Brits, business unit manager, HP StorageWorks division, the benefit for Datacentrix is industry recognition as a strong, competitive player.
"Datacentrix has proven that it has made a significant investment in its HP partnership, has ensured that it has the right certifications and, with the appropriate sales, pre-sales and technical skills in place, has increased customer satisfaction," says Brits.
As an Elite Partner, Datacentrix is granted access to HP`s intellectual capital, including in-depth technical information and specifications, product launches and white papers. "The Elite Partner programme marks the first time that HP has given this kind of access to external parties," Brits says.
In order to qualify, a company needs to be part of HP`s Business Partner Programme as well as an authorised business solution partner. It also needs a business plan, demonstration facilities and must employ accredited engineers and sales staff.
According to Hein Buhrmann, divisional director: Enterprise Systems at Datacentrix, this demonstrates the success of the two-way partnership between Datacentrix and HP.
"Datacentrix has invested heavily in this relationship over the last three years in order to achieve the status as a major supplier of HP`s StorageWorks solutions and has enjoyed great success in growing its base of large customers in SA. This success has certainly been largely due to the great support from HP and its commitment to Datacentrix as a partner.
"Both companies obviously want to grow their storage businesses significantly going forward. Being part of HP`s StorageWorks Elite Partner programme enables Datacentrix to go to market with a further differentiator," says Buhrmann.
Datacentrix is one of the largest value partners with a direct contract with HP across the entire range of hardware products, including those acquired in the Compaq merger.
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