Alternative Vendors: Network Storage

Solution providers who have a close relationship with one primary storage vendor tread carefully when taking on an alternative, something they usually do to fill a hole in their portfolio. But as long as solution providers play fair with the vendor that brings them to a customer opportunity, there's typically little more than a scowl from their primary vendor.

Hewlett-Packard Co. is by far the largest vendor for Lilien Systems, Larkspur, Calif. In seven years, the VAR has only worked with one competitive vendor, said Dhruv Gulati, Lilien's executive vice president. Lilien signed with Network Appliance last year to have access to a full line of NAS products, Gulati said. "HP wasn't happy about it," he said. "But we had to make our own decision."

Despite signing on with NetApp, Lilien is still tied very closely to HP in its sales and marketing, and would never do anything to hurt that relationship, Gulati said. "We have rules of engagement," he said. "The most important one is, we dance with the partner that brought us to the dance."

Keith Norbie, director of Plymouth, Minn.-based Nexus Information Systems' storage division, whose primary vendor partner is EMC Corp., said alternatives give VARs an opportunity to work with new ways of doing storage, and forces primary vendors to evolve their offerings. Norbie cited EqualLogic, which was just acquired by Dell Inc., as a disruptive force that provided a counter-culture to traditional vendors by including features that were options in the past.

Other solution providers, such as Chi Corp., Cleveland, avoid the primary vendors altogether. For Chi, the difference is the people, said Greg Knieriemen, vice president of marketing. Partners such as FalconStor Software Inc., Nexsan Technologies Inc. and Overland Storage know their partners very well. "And we know them well," Knieriemen said. "For any of those three, I can pick up the phone any time and call. If I have a special problem, or if I need help with a customer, I can call them."