Strategic Collaboration Program By Brocade

Brocade Communications Systems, Inc. announced the Strategic Collaboration Program to formalize and increase its level of engagement with alliance partners.

A mutually beneficial program between Brocade and its named alliances, the program fosters an open, ecosystem-driven approach to help customers build IP networks that can serve as a platform for innovation and for developing, delivering and securing new applications.

Old IP networks are characterized by closed systems in which innovation cycles are constrained by one vendor, inter-operation is limited and costs are high. In contrast, New IP networks are open and multi-vendor in nature allowing organizations to accelerate their pace of innovation by tapping into a pool of resources and technologies. The ecosystem-centric approach of Brocade’s Strategic Collaboration Program empowers vendors and customers to co-create innovative applications to stay ahead of the competition.

“An ecosystem built today needs to embrace true openness,” said Ray Mota, CEO and principal analyst, ACG Research. “Brocade is demonstrating the disruptive power of building such an ecosystem, and this program will help assure their customers that they will benefit from the ability to plug-and-play Brocade’s technologies across a wide group of technology partners.“

The Strategic Collaboration Program, which builds on the framework of the Brocade Solid State Ready Program, includes the following technology areas and named alliances:

Alliance partners inStrategic Collaboration Program will receive benefits including:

• Compatibility and integration testing;
• Discounted hardware for testing and demo centers;
• Development of solution architectures;
• Sales and co-marketing opportunities.
  

“While Brocade has always worked closely with partners, this new program provides a systematic approach to developing, marketing and selling joint solutions. We’re excited that this group of partners has chosen to incorporate Brocade into the development of their next-generation solutions, and this program’s aim is to ensure our joint success,” said Andrew Coward, VP of strategy, Brocade. “The Strategic Collaboration Program validates Brocade’s open partner ecosystem strategy, helps accelerate cross-selling of solutions and provides incremental revenue opportunity for us and our alliances.“