Cabletron Systems Corp, the $ 1,5-billion premier provider of enterprise-class networking solutions, is to increase its investment in South Africa by R30-million over the next 24 months. It also will renew its exclusive distribution agreement with channel partner, Duxbury Networking.
The deal was announced by Cabletron Systems (South Africa) country manager, Martin May.
He said Cabletron would partner with Duxbury Networking to increase the size of the Cabletron technical support team in South Africa and establish a nation-wide emergency parts infrastructure to cater for mission-critical network users.
The establishment of a joint research and development facility was also announced.
"Duxbury was selected as our partner in South Africa because of its strong leadership position in the distribution channel and its expertise in the field of e-business communications," said May.
"In terms of the agreement, a significant emphasis will be placed on skills transfer. Together with Duxbury Networking, we will establish international-class training centres in Durban, Cape Town and Johannesburg to train a new generation of service technicians and support personnel," he said.
"We also will equip Duxbury`s Cabletron Certified engineers with the necessary skills to perform `on-the-job` training of new recruits - again to international standards.
"In addition, we will establish `emergency` product storage warehouses or `depots` in Cape Town, Durban, Port Elizabeth, Bloemfontein and Botswana.
"These depots will carry a minimum of R 5-m in stock at any time and complement our bonded warehouse facility in Gauteng," he said.
"The idea is to allow dealers and installers to gain immediate access to key products to support their clients` networks in times of crisis, obviating slow, traditional shipping routines."
May said Cabletron and Duxbury will also establish joint laboratory facilities in Johannesburg, Cape Town and Durban, where advanced networking solutions can be developed and tested prior to installation.
"This is one of the most important investments," stressed May. "These facilities will be made available to local systems designers, installers and dealers who will be able to test their proposals in a simulated `live` environment.
"The laboratories will be equipped with the latest Cabletron and competitive products, as well as test equipment, for detailed evaluation purposes."
Graham Duxbury, MD of Duxbury Networking, said the deal with Cabletron cements a successful, four-year relationship with the networking vendor.
"We have been working with Cabletron Systems for some time now and I am pleased to be able to take our relationship one step further," he said.
"The exclusive partnership which we have formed will have important spin-off benefits for Cabletron network users and the networking industry in South Africa.
"Not only will Cabletron and Duxbury have among the most comprehensive sales, technical support and back-up infrastructures in the country, we will also make a major contribution towards alleviating the skills shortage - one of the most critical challenges facing the information technology industry today."
Share
