HDS and Acer partner to target SMB's

Storage vendor Hitachi Data Systems and PC vendor Acer has entered into a distribution agreement whereby Acer will market, sell, and support the Hitachi Thunder 9500 V Series modular storage systems in addition to third party products, as part of a total SAN solution.

This three year agreement will make Acer a Regional Platinum Solutions Partner in Hitachi's Channel Partner Program in Australia, India, Malaysia, New Zealand, Singapore, Taiwan, and Thailand. Under this agreement, Acer will promote the Hitachi Thunder family of storage systems through its local channel partners in these markets. 

Acer views the alliance as an opportunity to increase its presence in the entry to mid-level Storage Area Network (SAN) market and bring HDS into the storage-attached-oriented Windows server market.

"Acer's primary objective is to provide value to our customers by delivering dependable, easy-to-use products and services that meet their specific needs," said Richard Johns, business manager, Enterprise Solutions Group, Acer Oceanic Region. "By integrating Hitachi's storage and storage area management software, we are now able to deliver a truly complete and open SAN solution to small and medium businesses."

"We see tremendous opportunity for growth within the small and medium enterprise marketplace as more and more enterprise applications become available on the Windows operating system, including email, which is as ubiquitous as office stationery," said Michael Cremen, Hitachi Data Systems' general manager for Australia and New Zealand.

As part of this agreement, Acer will become a Partner Authorised Service Provider in each of the participating countries. In addition, Acer partners who complete the training process will be certified to provide installation and configuration of HDS systems.

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