EMC and Dell have agreed to extend a multi-billion dollar worldwide strategic alliance for networked storage systems despite being less than two years through the original five-year agreement.
The deal sees Dell acting as an original equipment manufacturer (OEM) of EMC CX200 storage systems, which are then branded as Dell products.
“Both parties see a lot of success in the relationship,” EMC channels manager for A/NZ, David Henderson, said.
“Dell is a very aggressive and broad-based organisation that takes us into new vertical markets like government, health and education.”
Government contracts have ranged from local councils to state departments; education customers include university and tertiary colleges; health deals have covered large boards and small district services.
“Working with EMC, we’ve been able to broaden the market for networked storage systems,” Dell director of enterprise solutions for A/NZ, Simon Johnson, said.
Henderson claimed the partnership had achieved 40 per cent quarter-on-quarter growth for the past 18 months. “Even from a small base that translates into some serious numbers,” he said.
According to Henderson, the agreement with Dell differs to other two-tier relationships EMC has.
“The difference in product offering here is in the warranty," he said. "Dell does a lot of its own services and support whereas other partners rely on EMC to do it."