SAN specialist Kavanagh is to scale back its Ciscorelationship after signing up to Brocade's Alliance Partner Network as aPremier Partner.
Kavanagh originally signed on to push Cisco's MDS(Multi-layer Data Switch) SAN line-up to develop its datacentre proposition.
However, citing difficulties in obtaining competitivepricing for enterprise deals given Cisco's preference for pushing good dealsthrough its Gold Partners, it will now be concentrating on Brocade.
Kavanagh technology and alliances director Anthony Head saidthe reseller would still carry Cisco but added that the two year relationshiphad not been as fruitful as hoped.
"We engage with enterprise customers and we struggle to compete on price with the Cisco Gold Partner advantage," he said.
"We are opening our business up to embrace alternativeswhere we can make some money, and the marriage between Brocade's SAN productsand Foundry's IP products does this," he continued.
"Before buying Foundry theirrelationships were by proxy through storage vendors but they are now takingthat opportunity to get closer to the channel."
One Cisco partner who declined to be named said he couldunderstand why Cisco was trying to cement its channel during the recession,saying: "Cisco is looking at volumes and must support the big guys if they wantto keep that going."
However, he continued: "By taking services revenues away andallowing larger partners to squeeze you out it makes you question if you shouldbother, sometimes."
Kavanagh's new partnership will also build on the close tiesbetween Brocade and Hewlett-Packard, and the reseller's own lengthy relationship with HP'sEnterprise Servers and Storage (ESS) unit, as well as its ProCurve switchingbusiness, according to Head.
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