One Less Sun VAR: FusionStorm Puts CAT In The Bag

One plus one equals one Sun Microsystems solution provider as FusionStorm acquired CAT Technology this week.

The combined entity will operate under the FusionStorm name and will be run by John Varel, CEO of FusionStorm.

Doug Koo, CEO of CAT for the past two years, retired, said Don James, vice president of sales and marketing at FusionStorm, a position he previously held at CAT.

Both firms, which competed against each other in northern California, were channel partners with Sun, Oracle, Hitachi Data Systems and Veritas Software.

Terms of the deal were not released.

James said the new organization takes advantage of different strengths of FusionStorm and CAT. FusionStorm's strength was in support contracts and managed services, while CAT had a strong hardware, software and professional services business, he said.

FusionStorm was Oracle's partner of the year for the West Coast in fiscal-year 2002, while CAT was Oracle's third largest partner there, James said. CAT was HDS' No. 1 partner on the West coast, while for Veritas, CAT was No. 1 and FusionStorm No. 4 in the West, he said.

CAT was profitable, although profits in the past two years were much less than those of three years ago, James said. "But we saw an opportunity where FusionStorm has a profitable managed services business with their StormWatch offering," he said. "Also, FusionStorm got higher discounts with support from Sun and Veritas."

CAT in the past also had a managed services business, but two years ago sold it to eOnline, now known as BlueStar Solutions.

CAT is not the only Sun solution provider to disappear this year. In February, Avcom, a profitable $100 million Sun partner, closed its doors without warning. The company has since been resurrected by the acquisition of some of its assets by former employees and renamed AvcomEast.

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