IT solutions distributor, Avnet Technology Solutions, and Cisco recently marked their fifth anniversary of partnership in the data center market. In 2009, Cisco selected Avnet as its high-value specialty distributor in the U.S. and Canada because of its technical experience related to the data center and sophisticated integration capabilities. Since then, Avnet has built and developed a community of specialized solution provider partners that have supported Cisco through its entry into the data center server market. In turn, this relationship has provided Avnet’s partners with access to innovative technologies to create next-generation data centers for their customers, especially through the use of Cisco-based integrated infrastructure systems.
One of the key ways that Avnet has been able to help Cisco and its partners profitably grow in this market is by developing a channel ecosystem and alliances to capitalize on the integrated systems market opportunity. Avnet has fostered relationships with complementary technology vendors, such as EMC, Hitachi Data Systems, NetApp, and VMware, as well as Nimble Storage and SAP in the Americas, and Datacore and Veeam in EMEA. These relationships have enabled Avnet’s partners to create complete solutions based on Cisco server technology to help their customers improve productivity and profitability.
“We selected Avnet to help Cisco enter the data center market because of their proven track record in data center solutions and complex integration capabilities,” says Julie Hens, vice president, worldwide distribution sales, Cisco Systems. “Five years later we are thrilled with the success of this relationship, and Avnet has become one of Cisco’s fastest-growing technology distributors. Additionally, Avnet has helped Cisco to expand our ecosystem for integrated infrastructure systems and helped to pave the way to help us deliver our vision of tomorrow’s data center.”
