Tech Data Named First Disty For Fujitsu Primergy Servers
The products will be part of the Clearwater, Fla.-based distributor's Advanced Infrastructure Solutions division's offerings and will complement the Fujitsu Eternus SAN solutions that it recently picked up.
Tech Data is carrying three main server lines, the Primergy TX120 tower server for small/branch offices, the RX300 S3 rack-mounted server featuring Xeon or Quad Core processors, and the BX600 blade server supporting up to 10 dual processor blade servers in a combination oF dual- and quad-core AMD and Intel blades.
Tech Data has discussed bringing the Primergy servers to the U.S. for a year, said John O'Shea, director of Advanced Infrastructure Solutions division.
The distributor has carried the products in Europe for several years and has a successful imaging relationship in the U.S. that it plans to leverage in terms of recruiting VARs for the server and storage products, O'Shea said. "There will be some work to be done. I think it's a natural crossover for imaging and storage. It's a key opportunity for us to engage with those resellers that are very comfortable with the Fujitsu brand and get them tied into the other products," he said.
Tech Data's AIS division also carries server lines by Hewlett-Packard, IBM and Supermicro, O'Shea added.
Fujitsu previously sold the Primergy servers directly to a small group of resellers in the U.S., O'Shea said. Tech Data expects to pick up the bulk of that business now, but the VARs can still purchase directly from Fujitsu if they choose, he added. He characterized Tech Data as the first "go-to-market" distributor in the U.S., but he did not say it was an exclusive arrangement with the vendor.
The distributor plans to bundle the Primergy and Eternus lines along with pre-configured virtualization software, according to Tech Data.
"If we look at the software vendors we're engaged with, we have a lot of choices there. That's a key opportunity, working the solution bundles and giving the resellers some options," he said.
To support the lines, Tech Data has dedicated sales, engineering and product management resources and it will help VARs through the training and certification process, O'Shea said. The distributor plans a series of AIS conferences to market the products, he added. The first show is scheduled as part of Tech Data's Technology Solutions Tour, April 17-18 in Chicago. Other dates include June 12-13 in Boston, Sept. 18-19 in San Francisco and Oct. 23-24 in Orlando, Fla.