Fair or Foul: SMB VAR Locks Horns With NetApp

A Network Appliance solution provider working with that vendor's StoreVault S500 entry-level storage array moved quickly to take advantage of a couple potential opportunities only to cry foul when he said he was thwarted by the vendor in pursuing those opportunities.

Ron Robinson, president and CEO of Innovative Technology Data Storage, an Atlanta-based storage solution provider, has been engaged with NetApp in a long-running battle over whether the vendor and its direct sales rep, who focuses his sales on NetApp's FAS line of midrange and enterprise storage appliances, is unfairly preventing competition from Robinson selling the vendor's entry level StoreVault line.

Robinson also accuses NetApp of violating its own dealer registration policy in the case of another customer who had been purchasing from a local solution provider but who was interested in making a deal with Robinson.

In the first deal, Innovative visited long-time NetApp FAS customer Cingular, as the wireless division of AT&T is still commonly referred to, and found interest in multiple units of the StoreVault for use as low-cost remote backup appliances, Robinson said.

While Cingular was planning to purchase FAS 270 arrays direct from NetApp, Innovative registered the deal as a StoreVault deal. "But then the NetApp rep heard that we were talking to Cingular, and didn't like it," Robinson said. "So Cingular called us to stop the deal."

The reason was simple, Robinson said. "The NetApp reps had no vested interest in selling the StoreVault," he said. "If they sell FAS or another solution, they don't want the customer to see other low-cost solutions."

Ed Smith, the local NetApp FAS sales rep, told NetApp's local StoreVault sales rep that Innovative can't go into Cingular with StoreVault, Robinson said. "The local NetApp sales rep doesn't like me because I sell the S500 against them even though its all NetApp product."

Actually, Innovative or any StoreVault solution provider is welcome to bring the S500 to the attention of any potential customer including Cingular and compete against NetApp's FAS line, said Sajai Krishnan, general manager of NetApp's StoreVault Business Unit.

The problem, said Krishnan, is that selling the StoreVault into an enterprise customer can be difficult.

"NetApp direct sales reps cannot sell StoreVault," Krishnan said. "If Cingular believes StoreVault is the right answer, Ron [Robinson] is the first choice. The customer can chose FAS or StoreVault. If the customer want's StoreVault, Ron will get the deal."

The StoreVault line, however, was not developed for enterprise accounts, said Leonard Iventosch, vice president of global channels for NetApp.

"It's for small and medium businesses," he said. "Sometimes an enterprise customer is interested in such a product. But StoreVault resellers should not be surprised if the customer is more interested in FAS. If you walk in and see Dell there, by all means compete with StoreVault. But if there's a Clariion [from EMC] there, FAS is the better solution."

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