OIL & GAS

Bull and GlassHouse Technologies today announced that they have entered into a strategic agreement to jointly deliver storage consulting services throughout Europe.

Under the terms of the agreement, Bull will use GlassHouse methodologies and tools within a new consulting practice in Bull's StoreWay business unit.

The new storage assessment services will help organisations identify and quantify potential storage economies and the benefits of new storage optimisation technologies. Combining storage expertise, methodology and tools, these services aim to provide pragmatic advice and rapidly measurable benefit through short and focused service engagements.

Bull and GlassHouse will jointly deliver assessments through Bull's existing sales and services organisations and will complement the extensive storage service offering that Bull already has in place providing design, implementation and support services.

"Faced with continuing high levels of data growth and budgetary restrictions, IT organisations are increasingly seeking to reduce the cost and improve the efficiency of their existing storage infrastructures rather than simply adding raw storage capacity" said Benoit Hallez, Director of Bull's StoreWay business unit. "This partnership will help our customers meet these challenges by combining GlassHouse's experience and leadership in the storage assessment field and Bull's long experience in storage integration and presence in the European IT market."

The initial assessment service offer will address major storage challenges currently faced by IT organisations including the optimisation of data backup infrastructures, data classification and tiered storage, and data deduplication and provisioning

"This partnership is complementary to Bull's strategic direction and integral to GlassHouse's expansion into mainland Europe. Bull's significant market penetration into thousands of organisations, extensive IT infrastructure expertise and dedicated focus on storage integration make them an ideal partner," said Mark Shirman, CEO of GlassHouse Technologies. "We are looking forward to a strong partnership that leverages our strategic consulting expertise and Bull's diverse integration and support services in the European market."