Cranel, Infinite Solutions, and Arrow NACP Also Honored for Outstanding Performance
SANTA CLARA, California, 19 December, 2000 — At its First Annual Channel Summit in Las Vegas, Hitachi Data Systems recognized channel partners that have demonstrated outstanding performance through partnership and revenue achievement.
Hitachi Data Systems presented five awards to four partners, with the Partner of the Year award going to Datalink. "We are pleased to recognize Datalink as Partner of the Year," said Jim Davidson, Hitachi Data Systems Vice President and General Manager of U.S. Sales. "With its technical expertise and commitment to solving customers' business challenges, Datalink epitomizes the true value-add partner for Hitachi Data Systems." Datalink's key customers include: CBS Sportsline.com, ClickShip Direct, H.B. Fuller and Kemper Insurance.
Hitachi Data Systems also recognized three other partners in four categories for outstanding performance.
Top Performer (Tier 1) and Outstanding Achievement awards were presented to Cranel for achieving the greatest amount of revenue and the greatest percentage increase in revenue, respectively. Cranel has quickly made a name for itself as a value-add partner and has recorded a number of major wins in the past year including: Virginia Power, Grupo Televisa and the Society of Automotive Engineers.
The Top Performer (Tier 2) award was presented to Infinite Solutions for achieving the greatest amount of revenue in the Tier 2 category. In its four-year history with Hitachi Data Systems, Infinite Solutions has consistently been a top performer, contributing accounts such as Electronic Arts and Advanced Micro Devices.
Tier 1 and Tier 2 designations signify partners that purchase directly from Hitachi Data Systems or through an authorized distributor, respectively.
A Special Recognition award was presented to Arrow North American Computing Products (NACP) for achieving an outstanding growth rate (732 percent) during the half-year ending September 30. Arrow NACP has consistently proven itself to be a true partner to its customers by providing value-add services and support enhancing its customers' competitive edge.
"Now, more than even before, our channel partners are an absolutely crucial component of our business success," said Ron Gervenack, Hitachi Data Systems Vice President and General Manager of Enterprise Products and Solutions. "With their technical expertise and wide customer base, they extend our reach into areas of the market we have not previously addressed. These are the areas of greatest growth and they make it possible for us to participate in that growth. I want to thank all our partners for the energy and enthusiasm they have shown in presenting our products to their customers. And I especially want to thank Datalink, Cranel, Infinite Solutions, and Arrow NACP for setting an outstanding standard of performance. Congratulations to them all."
During the past year Hitachi Data Systems made great strides in transforming its business model from one in which the vast majority of its products were sold to Global 500 corporations by a direct sales force to one in which channel partners selling to a much broader range of customers became a significant force in delivering Hitachi Data Systems' storage solutions.
During this same period, Hitachi Data Systems also transformed itself into a company whose main business is marketing and sales of highly reliable, highly scalable, highest performing data storage systems and solutions. Its flagship product is the Hitachi Freedom Storage™ Lightning 9900™ Series, which is designed to meet the requirements of enterprise customers who need to store and manage explosively growing volumes of computer data.
Datalink Corporation, based in Minneapolis, Minnesota, is the nation's leading independent architect of enterprise-class information storage infrastructures. As an independent, Datalink designs, builds, and supports information storage architectures using the best possible technologies. Datalink's customized storage infrastructures ensure information availability, storage, protection, and continuity for clients worldwide.
Cranel is a leading independent provider of data availability technology and expertise. Cranel specializes in the design, implementation, and support of online storage, storage area networks, and backup/restore solutions for Sun Solaris™, HP-UX™, and Microsoft Windows NT™ platforms. Cranel's technology assessment process identifies, evaluates, tests, and recommends storage technologies without bias to a single vendor or technology. Utilizing more than fifteen years of experience, Cranel's services span from the first pre-sale consulting engagement through design, implementation, and 7x24 customer support for multi-vendor data availability implementations.
Infinite Solutions is an Austin, Texas based company founded in 1991. From the beginning, its model has been to use a consultative, problem-solving approach to customers' data storage management needs. Its primary focus has always been data management, with expertise in Storage Area Networks, Backup/Restore and Business Continuance across multiple platforms. Infinite Solution's expertise and commitment to customers have enabled it to enjoy consistent, above average growth and at the same time build an excellent reputation among customers and peers. For more information on Infinite Solutions, call 512-306-1433 or visit www.infisol.com.
Arrow North American Computer Products is a leading full-line technical distributor of computer systems, communications and storage equipment, peripherals, components, software, and value-added services to solution providers in North America. With headquarters in Greenville, South Carolina, Arrow North American Computer Products, a division of Arrow Electronics, Inc. (NYSE: ARW), includes Arrow/Wyle Computer Products, Consan, Gates/Arrow Distributing, MOCA, SBM, and Support Net. Arrow Electronics is the world's largest distributor of electronic components and computer products to industrial and commercial customers.
Committed to helping customers exploit the value of information technology for success in the Internet economy, Hitachi Data Systems, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Hitachi, Ltd. (NYSE: HIT), is a leading provider of business solutions for the world's most information-intensive corporations. For further information on Hitachi Data Systems, access www.hds.com.
Hitachi, Ltd., headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, is one of the world's leading global electronics companies, with fiscal 1999 (ended March 31, 2000) consolidated sales of 8,001 billion yen ($75.5 billion(1)). The company manufactures and markets a wide range of products, including computers, semiconductors, consumer products and power and industrial equipment. For more information on Hitachi, Ltd., please visit Hitachi's Web site at http://www.hitachi.co.jp.
1 At an exchange rate of 106 yen to the dollar.
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Hitachi Data Systems is registered with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office as a trademark and service mark of Hitachi, Ltd. Freedom Storage and Lightning 9900 are trademarks of Hitachi Data Systems. All other trademarks are the rightful property of their respective owners.
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