As part of Sun Microsystems ongoing commitment towards the development of IT in Africa, the global e-commerce player has appointed cdpAfrica as its Channel Development Provider (CDP) partner for the English-speaking countries of the continent.
This announcement was made at a recent gala event held for Sun's African channel partners, attending the vendor's sales conference in Gaborone, Botswana.
"cdpAfrica is a strong Sun partner and has greatly expanded our reach into Africa. They are also based in Botswana - a country that is well known for its political and financial stability," comments Abie Fullard, regional sales manager for Africa at Sun Microsystems.
cdpAfrica, previously known as EC Botswana, is a subsidiary of Sun Microsystems SA partner MGX Holdings and has been a Sun partner for two years. "They offer a high level of skill and competency to our existing as well as prospective clients.
"In addition, cdpAfrica provides sophisticated e-commerce solutions, such as iPlanet, greatly expanding our penetration into this space," comments Ben Neveling, regional sales manager, English Africa at Sun Microsystems. Another key benefit of cdpAfica's new status is that the organisation now distributes directly to resellers. This means the various partners in English-speaking Africa deal directly with cdpAfrica, ensuring quicker time to market. " cdpAfrica is the crucial link between partners in Africa and Sun.
"Our aim is to offer a service to our partners through our CDP that takes care of pre-sales management, logistics, financial management and technical configuration. A one stop-shop for Africa," says Neveling.
"We are delighted by the announcement which is sure to benefit all Sun partners in the region," says Anthony Duckworth, director of cdpAfrica.
"We are enabling channel partners to become solutions providers as well as suppliers of hardware and software. Through this they will be able to create more business opportunities, giving them that competitive-edge."
Taroon Japal, regional director for the Sub Saharan region at Oracle - a Sun partner- confirms this: "A CDP model is a step in the right direction for Sun and will definitely further the growth of its channel partners' expertise and reach throughout Africa."
Since becoming a Sun channel partner, cdpAfrica has been very successful. Key successes include leading cellular network Vista Cellular and BPC (Botswana Power).
cdpAfrica also held a sales conference and training sessions for all the African channel partners from the English speaking regions of the continent. The aim of the conference, held from 3 to 6 September in Gaborone in Botswana, was to expose them to the channel and to provide training. All the partners received Sun Certifications and Post-Sales Certifications during the conference. For more information contact Ben Neveling on +27 11 256 6300.
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