NetApp's annual EMEA partner event, held in Venice, Italy, has proved to be a successful one for South-African-headquartered Bytes Systems Integration.
The Bytes Technology Group business picked up the EMEA Professional Services Certified Partner of the Year award at the event. Bytes staved off competition from systems integrators across Europe and the Middle East to secure the title.
Speaking to ITWeb on the sidelines of the event, Mike Broderick, divisional director: storage at Bytes Systems Integration, says: "We are absolutely delighted. It's always a pleasure to receive the recognition that we can deliver."
Broderick goes on to explain that the award was won as the result of a professional services engagement for a large telco. "Over six months, we implemented NetApp OnCommand Insight, which is an end-to-end multi-vendor storage management solution, to fill some of the storage gaps in the data centre. The size of the telco's data centre meant it was a very complex, technical project."
In addition to the storage vendor's award, Broderick also revealed that Bytes Systems Integration had recently secured a NetApp star. This is the coveted top-tier partner level, of which there are only 159 partners worldwide.
To attain the star certification, there are a number of criteria that need to be met, such as the number and level of installations, number of certified technicians and revenue targets. "We invest a lot of money in certifications, and have built a lab with the latest kit in it for our technicians to practice and experiment," Broderick says.
The third highlight of the event for Broderick was having the Bytes name pulled, at random, from all NetApp award winners to clinch the vendor's corporate responsibility donation. An amount of $10 000 has been given to Bytes Systems Integration to donate to a charity of its choice. Broderick confirmed that the money was destined for the International Red Cross.
The event was held on 18 and 19 June and attracted approximately 200 delegates representing NetApp partners (both fellow vendors and systems integrators) from 29 countries across the region.
Other award winners included: Computacenter AG (EMEA Enterprise Market Partner of the Year); BilgiTurk (EMEA Midsize Market Partner of the Year); Altimate Spain (EMEA Distributor of the Year); ANS Group (EMEA Support Service Partner of the Year, and EMEA FlexPod and ExpressPod Partner of the Year); and Fujitsu UK and Ireland (EMEA Partner Marketing Campaign of the Year).
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