Networking infrastructure solutions maker Brocade has signed a value-added distributorship (VAD) deal with Ingram Micro’s Ingram Micro that covers the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), as part of the Alliance Partner Network (APN) programme.
Under the accord, Ingram Micro will distributed, implement and offer technical support services after completing the requisite training and technical certifications. In addition, Brocade said it will equip Ingram Micro with the skills and tools needed to leverage the market opportunities as customers across MENA begin to realise that their current legacy networks are incapable of supporting the huge demands being placed by big data, mobility, cloud and virtualisation.
The company also stated that part of the ramp-up will include a formal training programme that will run for the next six months so that the Ingram Micro team gains thorough knowledge of Brocade’s products and can properly position the vendor’s solutions to end users and reseller network. Brocade will also provide Ingram Micro with demo kits to enable it conduct Proof of Concepts (PoCs) and train its partners.
“We believe that Ingram Micro, with the backing of its parent company Ingram Micro, is well poised to help Brocade garner a larger market share, especially in the IP space and consolidate our company’s position as a leading networking vendor in the region,” said Yarob Sakhnini, regional director, MEMA at Brocade.
Sakhnini explained that signing Ingram Micro on as part of the APN programme is more strategic rather than tactical. Brocade is not looking for short term wins, but rather building on the company’s vision of what its distribution landscape needs to look like, how it will operate and what it needs to deliver.
He said Brocade undertook a rigorous recruitment process over a period of six months to ensure that Ingram Micro had the right profile, credentials, reseller network and technical capabilities in place and could align with the company’s overall business objectives.
“Brocade has established itself as a leader and pioneer in data centre Ethernet fabrics, software-defined networking (SDN) and network functions virtualisation (NFV) – technologies that are transforming the networking industry. We already carry some of Brocade’s key OEM partners like IBM and HP in our company portfolio and the addition of Brocade now enables us to sell a bigger and more comprehensive solution and create an incremental revenue stream,” said Dr Ali Baghdadi, president, Ingram Micro Technology Solutions, META region.
“We are confident that with the combination of world class technology and activities including partner enablement and targeted marketing campaigns aimed at raising Brocade’s profile, the market will respond favourably and we will be able to grow the vendor’s market share in a short span of time,” Baghdadi said.
Ingram Micro’s appointment takes Brocade’s tally of regional distributors to four as the other distributors include Westcon, Mindware and Enterprise Systems.
