Vendors’ partnership will yield two mid-range volume storage products in the UK next year

Storage vendors Acer and Hitachi Data Systems (HDS) have signed an EMEA agreement to design and launch two joint storage products into the region’s SME market.

The deal will see the products rolled out under an Acer/HDS brand in the UK during the first six months of 2007. The move mirrors that of rival EMC which has been attempting to target the SME sector over the past few months.

Philippe Fosse, senior director of channels at HDS EMEA, said: “Through Acer’s channel supply model, smaller companies will benefit from our high-end functionality storage. This will strengthen our presence in the SME market.”

He added that HDS already works with Acer in the Asia Pacific region, and that both vendors are keen to extend the relationship into EMEA.

John Roberts, server business unit director at Acer EMEA, said: “Acer and HDS are ideal partners for the SME storage market. The combination of storage solutions with Acer’s channel supply programme provides a clear advantage for SMEs with no extensive IT infrastructure.”

Mark Walker, director of open storage products at distributor Bell Microproducts, said: “I can see the logic of [HDS] getting to the SME market through the Acer channel. However, it could quickly commoditise the HDS brand, and if this drags down margins then this could affect its existing partners.”