StorageTek has upgraded its global reseller relationship with Veritas by taking over first and second level support for the storage vendor's products. The agreement only applies to products sold by StorageTek.
Under the new deal, StorageTek has been promoted to a Veritas technical services support partner. It is one of 12 Veritas Elite partners in Australian and New Zealand.
Veritas channel manager, Archie Wilson, described the move as significant in terms of online training and consulting investment required but said the logistics made sense.
"The advantage they have got is being a vendor in their own right," he said. "They've already got the infrastructure for providing in-bound call support for customer service."
Veritas Elite partners have a direct purchasing relationship with the storage provider while the rest go through Ingram Micro and Express Data. Veritas said the agreement, which is not expected to reduce staffing levels, was suggested by StorageTek as a way of simplifying customer relationships.
"Increasingly, customers are looking for ways to reduce their administrative workload, particularly when it comes to support services," StorageTek managing director for Australia/New Zealand, Philip Belcher said. "Veritas storage management software is used by a large percentage of StorageTek's customer base."
Analysts at IDC forecast a strong upcoming quarter locally for storage solutions with increasing demand for high availability and business continuity solutions reflecting increased corporate governance.