Bell Micro SAN Plan

The Sanplicity bundle includes a StorageTek-branded array with a maximum capacity of either 216 Gbytes or 438 Gbytes, a Brocade Communications Systems model 3200 eight-port Fibre Channel switch, one or more Emulex 2-Gbps host-bus adapters, cables and documentation,all pretested for interoperability.

Along with the Sanplicity bundle, Bell Microproducts is offering solution providers first-call and second-call technical support, as well as Brocade-certified and -trained engineers, said Karen Duarte, director of product marketing at the distributor's Solution Center.

Installation of the SAN can be done by StorageTek technicians, in which case the solution provider can mark up the installation charge, or by solution providers with experienced SAN personnel, Duarte said.

The bundle is targeted primarily at Microsoft Exchange Server VARs and is the first in a series of SAN bundles planned for the SMB and enterprise spaces, said Duarte. Next quarter, the company expects to release a bundle based on IBM products, she said.

Suggested retail price for a bundle with a single-controller 216-Gbyte array; six 36-Gbyte hard drives; a rack; one switch; two host-bus adapters; software; and two-year, next-day service is $47,205.

Having a complete SAN solution fully tested for interoperability is a good lead-in to talk to potential customers, said Pierre Monsour, vice president of sales at Technical Reality, a Morgan Hill, Calif.-based solution provider that works with Bell Microproducts.

"When you walk into a customer's place and say you can do this and do that, they want proof everything will work together," Monsour said. "If it's a bundled solution, in their eyes it's proven technology."

With SANs, it is easy for customers to feel they are being nickeled and dimed to death, said Monsour. "They hear, 'Oops, you need a new GBIC,' or, 'Oops, you need a different card,' " he said. "There are always little factors which don't show up in the beginning. But with the bundle, everything is included. If there is any nickel and diming, it's minimal."

Bundled solutions also help ramp up solution providers that are new to the SAN market, said Veronica Mendell, business development manager at Sigmanet, a Diamond Bar, Calif.-based Bell Microproducts solution provider.

Sigmanet, which entered the SAN market about a year ago, has found that prepackaged bundles aren't for everybody or for every customer, Mendell said.

"They are definitely good for customers who are nervous," she said. "They are also good for new sales reps. And they save money for both us and the customer."

Sigmanet plans to do the installation of the Sanplicity bundles for its smaller clients on its own but bring in partners for larger, more involved installations, Mendell said.