Mellanox and show-jumping: An unusual alliance that works

You wouldn’t normally expect to see the words ‘show-jumping’ and ‘supercomputing’ in the same sentence, but thanks to a brand new partnership between Mellanox and one of South Africa’s sparkiest show-jumping teams, a re-think might be in order.

Most experts in the IT world have previously encountered Mellanox, a leading supplier of high-performance, end-to-end smart interconnect solutions for data centre servers and storage systems.

Now prepare to meet Mellanox My Hot Chocolate, a beautiful liver chestnut show-jumping champion, and his talented owner and rider, Belinda Duke.

Mellanox is in the business of being fast, innovative, agile and forward-thinking – and we can apply exactly the same words to the super-duo of Duke and her trusty steed.

Together, Duke and Mellanox My Hot Chocolate are a force to contend with on the local show-jumping circuit, and thanks to a new sponsorship deal from Mellanox, this is set to continue moving forward.

Duke, a talented fixture on the local show-jumping circuit, is product manager at Networks Unlimited Africa, which distributes Mellanox’s intelligent interconnect solutions throughout the continent. 

She explains: “Mellanox and Networks Unlimited Africa have had an excellent working relationship for some years now, and we know them to be ever-innovative and forward-thinking. An out-of-the-box brainstorming moment, in which we unpacked some of the similarities between my show-jumping career and my horse, My Hot Chocolate, quickly became a reality thanks to both Mellanox’s ever-present ability to embrace new thinking, as well as their innate generosity as a partner."

Duke will wear Mellanox-branded riding clothing when she and Mellanox My Hot Chocolate participate in events, while her horse will be proudly wearing Mellanox-branded accessories. A special show-jumping obstacle, in the form of a wooden wall jump, has also been created, with Mellanox’s branding and messaging.

Marcel Fouché, Networking and Storage General Manager at Networks Unlimited Africa, comments: “Mellanox is a global leader in high-performance computing, and its products are now used in over half of the world’s fastest supercomputers as well as in many leading hyperscale data centres. Known for being an early innovator in high-performance interconnect technology, it was no surprise to us when Mellanox teamed up with Belinda in order to create this new, vibrant marketing opportunity, about which we are all enthusiastic and most supportive."

Syd Virdi, Senior Director, EMEA Channel Sales at Mellanox, adds: “We are truly excited about this great initiative and looking forward to being with Belinda and Mellanox My Hot Chocolate every step of the way. In a world of high-tech solutions, Mellanox is ever-mindful of its impact on the physical world. Channelling the imaginative firepower of this energetic show-jumping team reminds us once again that IT exists to serve people and the planet. We couldn’t be happier at the birth of this exciting new partnership, which is a visual reminder of our ethos of elegantly ‘jump-starting’ solutions.”