Westcon wins Avaya distributor gong
Westcon group has won an Avaya EMEA distributor of the year award for the fifth year in a row. The specialty distributor picked up the prize from Avaya in recognition of its role in developing international business and building up the channel to market for Avaya solutions through its ConvergencePoint programme.
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IT distributor Jel Corporation has picked up Asus distribution rights in Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan. The new distribution agreement with Asus will be handled through Jel’s wholly-owned Middle East subsidiary, which has points of presence in Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Jebel Ali in the UAE. Jel Corporation is quoted on the Singapore stock exchange.
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Comztek adds Microsoft to rewards programme
South African IT distributor Comztek has expanded its partner rewards programme to offer resellers PlusPoints for Microsoft licensing purchases. Channel partners will earn PlusPoints based on the amount spent on qualifying Microsoft products from Comztek. The offer is open to all resellers in South Africa, Swaziland and Lesotho that are registered Microsoft partners.
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Ingram Micro lowers third quarter forecast
Global distribution giant Ingram Micro has lowered its third quarter sales forecast. Ingram now expects its sales for the quarter to come in at between US$8.3 billion and US$8.6 billion with profits in the US$30m to US$39m range. This includes a US$5m cost related to the completion of an expense reduction programme in Europe and North America.
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Aptec starts Avaya channel training
Middle East technology distributor Aptec has hosted the first in a series of partner training sessions on Avaya’s range of SMB solutions. The seven-day, hands-on training session includes five days of IP office training and two days on Avaya’s call centre solutions.
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Netgear adds Prologix to UAE VAR ranks
Netgear has appointed Prologix as a VAR partner in the UAE. The networking vendor hopes that its latest channel recruit will help it reach the country’s fast-growing SMB sector. The deal with Prologix has been fuelled by the VAR’s strong relationship with Avaya, according to Netgear. Avaya and Netgear already have a global partnership agreement in place.
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HP extends Open Force across Middle East
HP’s channel team is rolling out its ‘Open Force’ retail development scheme across the Middle East after a successful trial run in the UAE and Saudi Arabia. The scheme offers financial support to large and medium HP retailers aimed at increasing their sales force, boosting profit margins and assisting them to enter new territories.
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Sparxent plans Russia ramp up with Arbyte move
Sparxent, a US-based start-up VAR with aggressive worldwide expansion plans, has signed a letter of intent to snap up Moscow-based IT service provider Arbyte. Sparxent wants to position itself as a vendor agnostic midmarket IT and business solution provider and is preparing a string of acquisitions to make its mark in this sector. Arbyte Group has a significant customer base in the Russian Federation and Ukraine.
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Western Digital strikes Jarir deal
Hard drive giant Western Digital has struck a deal that will see Saudi Arabian retail giant Jarir Bookstore sell the vendor’s consumer line of portable storage devices in its stores. This new retail agreement forms part of WD’s overall strategy to strengthen its presence in the Kingdom.
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DataCore and Fujitsu Siemens team up in Europe
Fujitsu Siemens and DataCore have announced a European partnership, which will see the two companies collaborate on distribution, marketing and technical support. The two vendors claim that the deal has come about through the growth and success of DataCore’s storage virtualisation software projects and Fujitsu Siemens hardware and project support.
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