Dell has launched a storage partner growth program to increase its base for its Equalogic line. The vendor aimed to double the existing base to 50 resellers across Australia and New Zealand, said Jay Turner, Dell's head of channels in Australia.
Most of Dell's successful Equalogic resellers were working in the 200-1000 user space, Turner said. "It's not the big end of town at all."
Turner said that although he wasn't looking for managed services resellers in particular, "I find that the most succesful ones have that".
Dell acquired Equalogic at the end of 2008 and since then had quadrupled the business' revenues, Turner said. Customers were attracted to the modular and linear design which meant additional storage could be added as required with little difficulty.
"It's very hard to know how much data you need in two years," Turner said. "You either invest ahead of the curve, which is expensive, or you hedge your bets, and [staff] are saying [insufficient storage is] slowing them down."
A reseller could stick another Equalogic module on top of an existing unit as demand grew which meant less risk and less upfront expense.
Another benefit was the inclusion of all software with each unit sold. No extra licences were needed, Turner said. Equalogic also brought the iSCSI interface "to the masses" at an affordable price.
"Turning it into something I can monetise is pretty simple" thanks to straightforward pricing," Turner said.
Dell was providing online and face to face training for new partners. "It's a relatively small amount in the scheme of things," said Turner.
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