ACADEMIA

Silicon Graphics today announced the appointment of Avnet Partner Solutions as its newest distributor for the company's high-performance computing and storage products. The appointment is in line with SGI's channel-centric distribution strategy. Avnet will facilitate the delivery of SGI's scalable computing solutions to enterprise and government customers with low-to-mid range requirements. Avnet Partner Solutions, the only value-added distributor in Australia, specializes in distributed storage, enterprise computing systems, software, networking solutions and services. They market exclusively to the value-added reseller channel. Avnet will focus on distributing SGI(R) Altix(R) high-performance computing servers and SGI InfiniteStorage solutions. The SGI Channel Connection program, which provides sales, marketing and technical support, will be made available to resellers via Avnet. "Avnet really understands their customer's environments, which is why they are able to truly integrate SGI's powerful solutions to best advantage," said Bill Trestrail, Regional Managing Director for South Asia Pacific, SGI. "We are excited by this new agreement as it will enable us to extend our presence into a broader market from our current focus. We have a dominant position in areas of the technical computing market in Australia and we are keen to strengthen our position across the technical and creative computing uses. This relationship will enable us to better engage with business partners to bring innovative total solutions to our joint customers." Avnet's well-established, integrated channel network and knowledge of vertical markets such as manufacturing, energy, government, defense and science means SGI solutions will reach a wider audience of customers. Enterprise and government end users with extreme data challenges are also set to benefit from the wider range of data intensive high-performance architectures that Avnet is able to offer the market. SGI has forged a relationship with Avnet based on mutual market creation. Avnet vice president, Asia Pacific, Colin McKenna, said that they would be using their full suite of value added services, including logistics, sales, marketing, finance and technical support to build select market channels for SGI. "In addition, SGI's Channel Connection program will help us keep the value added reseller community updated on SGI services," he added. SGI is committed to providing its partners with competitive, differentiated and channel-friendly computing solutions and the support to win new customers through its SGI Channel Connection program. Key features of the program include: -- Channel Connection Academy: Focuses on training partners with industry and technical specialisation for a deeper understanding of customers' needs. -- Market Advantage: Delivers sales and marketing tools, including Market Development Funds (MDF), to enable partners' success. -- Service Advantage: Focuses on helping partners drive their own successful services business, without competition from SGI. -- Opportunity Registration: Enables a clear engagement model with no channel conflict or competition.