Magirus First Distributor to Launch EMC VSPEX

Magirus Group, an
European IT solutions provider, announced that it is the first distributor to
make the EMC
VSPEX Proven Infrastructure available to the channel in EMEA.

VSPEX,
which comprises a flexible, open
template or ‘framework’ of validated computing, network, storage and data
management technologies.

The configuration offered by Magirus includes technologies from VMware, Cisco,
EMC and Brocade. To support the launch, Magirus has created two new EMC
channel-enablement programmes: Magirus Partnering for Profit and Magirus
Ready to Fly. These respective programmes will help existing EMC Velocity
business resellers as well as those new to EMC with cloud deployments.

Aimed at Magirus business resellers working with SMBs, the company will offer a single point for
the supply of VSPEX at its M-Site data centre assembly facility in
Strasbourg, France.

Magirus will offer 14 VSPEX configurations comprising:
Cisco and Brocade compute and networking; VMware virtualisation; and VNX
and VNXe unified storage solutions. These validated
infrastructures provide a cost-effective, flexible data centre framework to help
business resellers speed up private cloud deployments for their customers.
Furthermore, Magirus can support business resellers to integrate these
components within existing data centre environments where often there may be
different infrastructure from other vendors, for example HP or IBM.

Christian Magirus, EVP and COO at Magirus, commented: "When you buy a car, you expect to drive it
off the forecourt immediately. We are doing exactly the same with EMC VSPEX by
simplifying the migration to cloud and helping business resellers reap the
benefits for their customers straight away."

Channel Enablement 
Magirus has created two new channel-enablement programmes to help
business resellers maximise return on investment from the deployment of
VSPEX solutions. Using EMC’s training programme, Magirus has trained more than
80 of its data centre sales, pre-sales and technical consultants on VSPEX
solutions across EMEA. Now these consultants are ready to support business
resellers on market development, sales and deployment of these data centre technologies.

The two programmes are:
Magirus Partnering for Profit which has been developed for existing Velocity resellers to reach the standards required for Premier
Partner status. It offers marketing support and revenue generation
opportunities. Key to its success is a Magirus mentor to help business
resellers develop strategic plans and ongoing support to achieve further data
centre/cloud computing business. Also, the programme includes: specialist
technical data centre training; assisting resellers to train one EMC technology
architect and one implementation engineer; and direct marketing campaigns and
sales promotional days for lead generation.

Magirus Ready to Fly has been designed for business resellers new
to EMC who require support to reach Velocity Affiliate Status. It includes
sales and technical training on the components of the solution through to
identifying the suitability of different solutions for different deployment
situations.

Depending on experience, Magirus may support business resellers to
become Velocity-certified within as little as six months.

Both programmes have been developed to help resellers open up new
revenue opportunities with integrated data centre technologies that reduce the
time and cost of pre-sales activity. Also, they provide resellers with the
support to develop their own data centre services and therefore deepen the
relationship with their customers and broaden the sale with recurring revenue
opportunities. For example, resellers can create and brand their own
Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) based on the Magirus/Colt platform.

Philippe Fossé, VP EMEA channels, EMC, said: "Virtual infrastructure and private cloud computing
are fast growing markets that are transforming both business and IT. As such,
it is important that channel resellers have the right tools to address this
demand. We are very pleased that Magirus is building programmes around EMC
VSPEX – doing so will accelerate the customer’s journey to the cloud through
its efficient and flexible architecture. Through its channel-enablement programmes, Magirus is helping its own
business resellers to develop new data-centre services that will speed up time
to market and increase longer-term revenue opportunities."

Raymond Sleiman, solutions director at DL Groupe, a Magirus reseller
in Switzerland, commented: "One of
the biggest issues for us and our customers with cloud deployments is
knowledge. With Magirus, we have a one-stop shop for the compute, storage and
server elements plus we can learn from their experience in the data centre and
with their own vBundles over the last two years. As a result, we are very
excited about the opportunities with VSPEX."

In support of both programmes, Magirus has launched a new EMC VSPEX
microsite.
This contains information on VSPEX for the channel including the
latest information and common workloads from Magirus on the different solutions
to help business resellers match them to different customer deployments.