Zimbabwean high-end storage specialist, DataSafe, has signed an agreement that will enable the company to distribute Seagate Software`s network and storage management products in the territory.Nick van Noordwyk, regional manager for the Middle East and Africa, Seagate Software, Network and Storage Management Group, says the agreement is effective immediately. "DataSafe has been successfully selling our products on the African continent for eighteen months or more - operating through our South African distributors."Andrew Wynne, director, DataSafe, sees the deal as providing a more direct route to source for Seagate Software customers in Zimbabwe. "We are a business partner of long-standing with Seagate Technology," he says, "and have acted as a conduit for the company`s hardware products into sub-Saharan Africa." "This agreement provides Seagate Software with direct representation in the Zimbabwean market and - as an officially recognised partner - it provides DataSafe with full access to the worldwide support organisation," says Wynne.DataSafe will provide a single [local] source for the 280 dealers and value-added resellers that make up Zimbabwe`s computer reseller channel. "It will also provide more competitive pricing because a link has been removed from the chain," he says.Indicating specific areas of interest for the Zimbabwean market, Wynne reports this predominately concerns Seagate Backup Exec and Seagate Desktop Management Suite (DMS). "The local corporate computer market was amazed to find open systems products providing functionality normally associated with mainframe-class computers," he says.The market is particularly intrigued by software distribution and usage monitoring, inventory control - both hardware and software, remote control of workstations across the network and enterprise-wide backup and the cost savings they provide. Van Noordwyk says this interest has played a significant role in the success of Seagate Software in South Africa and sees the DataSafe appointment as a valuable platform from which to launch a concerted drive into the rest of the continent. "We plan to appoint other distributors in Africa in the near future - although at this stage in the negotiation process, it is still too early to name the countries in which such distributors are located" he concludes.For more information about Seagate Software, Network and Storage Management Group, contact the company`s regional office in Johannesburg on +27 (0)11 448-2080 or DataSafe on +263 433-2681.
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