More than 120 representatives from over 30 regional distributors and systems integrators are in Beirut this week with Sun Microsystems Middle East, North Africa and Pakistan, for the company’s regional Partner Sales Corner summit. The three day event is designed to educate channel partners from the Gulf, Levant, and Egypt on the latest software, hardware, and storage solutions from Sun and its future plans for the region’s IT market.
Regional executives from AMD and Computer Associates are playing leading roles in the Sun conference to highlight their alliances with the technology leader. Attendees from around the region are set to hear about innovations in the AMD-based series of Sun x64 entry-level servers, while Computer Associates will showcase how its software solutions integrate with Sun systems for comprehensive security and data protection offerings.
“Sun’s channel partners are our eyes and ears across the MENA region, and the Partner Sales Corner enables us to hear firsthand about evolving customer needs while equipping our channel with the skills and solutions they require to meet that market demand,” said Bruno Haubertin, Sun Partner and Alliances Sales Organization Manager.
This week’s Partner Sales Corner will also enable Sun’s regional channel to discuss the market potential for the new Sun Fire Ultra SPARC T1 servers with ‘CoolThreads’ technology.
Considered to be industry’s new standard for speed with unprecedented energy and space efficiency, the new CoolThreads technology has the highest levels of scalability and availability. Three times faster than the existing technology, the server range has a power and heat system that cuts operating costs by up to 75 percent.
Highlights of the event also include discussion on Sun’s role in the Middle East’s education sector, new opportunities for training channel partners, and perspective on Sun’s leadership on data management and storage since the completion of its StorageTek acquisition globally.
“The first half of 2006 has been incredibly dynamic for Sun’s channel as we’ve recruited a number of new partners in the MENA region, which complement our global alliances with AMD, Computer Associates, and other technology majors. This week, we’ll be outlining the commercial and industry-specific opportunities we see in the region for the next six months,” added Haubertin.
Senior Sun executives will share their insights with the region’s channel partners on marketing strategies, upcoming products and new breakthrough technologies. Gaith Kadir, regional general manager for AMD will address customer benefits and advantages of using the new AMD-based Sun x64 range of servers.
Tarek Ayass, education and research regional manager for Sun, will deliver a note on the company’s commitment to quality IT education in the region. Sun recently opened its first academic laboratory at the Jubilee School in Jordan designed to teach, train and support a new generation of Arab information and communications technology (ICT) professionals.
“The response from the channel summits has always been encouraging. Through this platform we seek to empower our partners with the skills and tools necessary to offer customers the best possible solution.” concluded Haubertin.
Since its inception in 1982, a singular vision -- "The Network Is The Computer[tm]" -- has propelled Sun Microsystems, Inc. (Nasdaq: SUNW) to its position as a leading provider of industrial-strength hardware, software and services that make the Net work. Sun can be found in more than 100 countries and on the World Wide Web at http://www.sun.com
