Avnet Technology Solutions Becomes Hitachi TrueNorth Partner

Avnet Technology Solutions, an IT
solutions distribution specialist and an operating group of Avnet, Inc.,
announced that it has become the first Hitachi TrueNorth Partner authorized to
integrate Hitachi
Unified Compute Platform solutions in the US and Canada.

In this capacity, Avnet will serve as an architect and integrator for Hitachi
Unified Compute Platform (UCP) for vSphere with Cisco’s Unified Computing
System (UCS). Avnet’s integration services will help its Hitachi TrueNorth
Partners accelerate their time to market by providing complete converged data
center solutions.

"Avnet is committed to helping
solution providers quickly and profitably bring industry-leading converged data
center solutions to their customers," said Randy Wright, VP and GM,
Avnet Technology Solutions Americas for HDS. "By becoming the only distribution partner
providing implementation-ready framework architectures for this solution, Avnet
eliminates the complexity that solution providers face in designing and
developing solutions from multiple vendors that span the breadth of the data
center. Avnet will provide the technical capabilities solution providers need,
allowing them to spend more time advising their customers on how technology can
overcome enterprise-critical business challenges."

Authorized to provide these integrated solutions, Avnet now offers
Hitachi UCP Select for vSphere with Cisco UCS. These integrated solutions can
include Hitachi Virtual Storage Platform (VSP), Hitachi Unified Storage (HUS),
Hitachi Unified Storage VM (HUS VM), Cisco Unified Fabric network, and Cisco
UCS, as either a Cisco Validated Design or certified reference architecture.
The compute, network and storage resources featured in these solutions are
natively integrated with vSphere, creating a flexible and
cost-effective converged solution. Each component is certified for
interoperability, giving confidence to solution providers and their customers
that the solutions will satisfy today’s requirements and can also scale to meet
their business needs in the future.

"Avnet plays a vital role in the
Hitachi TrueNorth Partner Program, supporting our joint efforts to seamlessly
offer converged data center solutions featuring technology from Hitachi Data
Systems, Cisco and VMware," said Ed Parolisi, VP, infrastructure solutions
GTM, global partners and alliances, HDS. "Avnet’s renowned track record with converged
data center solutions and the Cisco UCS ecosystem, coupled with its solutions
distribution expertise, will ensure that our solution providers can shorten
their sales cycles and accelerate their time to market. Avnet’s integration
services will bring uniformity to the solutions and ensure they are predictably
and reliably built to Hitachi Data Systems’ standards."

The architecture and integration of Hitachi UCP for vSphere with Cisco UCS
solutions is conducted by Avnet’s expert team at its Global Solutions Center in
Chandler, AZ. The center consistently maintains ISO 9001
quality management system, ISO 14001 environmental management and ISO 13485
medical compliance certifications, as well as Cisco UCS B-Series Authorized
Configurator (UBAC) and Cisco Unified Computing System C-Series Authorized
Configurator (UCAC) certifications. Additionally, partners using these services
financially benefit from a ‘Ship Complete’ invoice, where they pay for
the solutions once they ship fully integrated.

"InterVision has invested in
building its Hitachi Data Systems business to further meet our growing customer
demand for their portfolio of storage and converged data center solutions,"
said Jason Gress, president, InterVision
Systems Technologies, Inc., an integrator of technology solutions and Avnet
partner. "Avnet’s technical
expertise and ability to integrate Hitachi Data Systems, VMware and Cisco
technologies into converged solutions extend our professional services
capabilities, allowing us to better serve our customers. Avnet has the
marketing resources and services we need to accelerate our Hitachi sales and
deployments, and drive more InterVision services revenue."

Solution providers will also be able to draw upon the expertise of Avnet’s
dedicated HDS solutions team, which is part of Avnet’s
recently formed Converged and Data Solutions group. This group supports
technology suppliers including Cisco, EMC, HDS, and NetApp. The group provides
solutions sales, field sales, technical, and product marketing support. In
addition, overall business and sales efforts for Avnet’s Converged and Data
Solutions team is provided by a technology and solutions development group that
offers pre-sales technical support and evaluates new converged solutions.