Vendor reassures channel partners there are still profits to be made, despite splitting distribution with Dell

EMC has become the latest vendor to launch an assault on the SME sector, with the release of an updated version of its AX disk storage system.

The EMC Clariion AX150 and AX150i will form part of EMC’s Insignia line of products for the SME market. EMC has been focused on the SME sector since the beginning of the year when it added an SME partner tier to its Velocity VAR programme (CRN, 6 February).

The AX system will ship through both resellers and direct vendor Dell, which has a global agreement to rebadge selected EMC products.

Nigel Ghent, marketing director for UK and Ireland at EMC, insisted the channel is well placed to compete with any direct business from Dell.

“The AX150 is targeted at the SME sector where the growth rates are high,” he said. “Not everyone buys from Dell. Our resellers compete and win against Dell every day of the week because end-users don’t just buy on price.”

Ghent said EMC is continuing to shift more of its business through the channel, but at a slower rate, as the majority of business is already indirect.

Mark Walker, director of open storage at EMC distributor Bell Microproducts, said the channel competing with Dell is not unusual in any segment of the market.

“With OEM agreements [such as Dell’s and EMC’s], prices can be more or less,” he said. “This is not unusual in the EMC channel, where VARs have always competed with Dell. It is part of the standard landscape.”

“The AX150 is an entry-level product to take EMC further into a volume market. It gives the channel the op-portunity to take EMC into the SME sector, where it has not been strong before. It offers a broader appeal.”