Distributor DNS Arrow has recently appointed a dedicated IBM System X team to help accelerate growth of the technology.

The distributor has brought together a team of eight heads comprising both existing DNS Arrow employees and new recruits.

Craig Thomson joins DNS Arrow from IBM on secondment to head up the team as IBM System X business development manager. Thomson said: “The team will focus mainly on sales, with internal, external and operational sales. The team has been set some high targets, but is confident these will be met.

“Any distributor can offer System X, but until now it has not been advertised very well and has not had a team to back it up. Together, IBM and DNS Arrow would like to offer more choice for the market and become the first choice when selecting a virtualisation distributor,” added Thomson.

The announcement follows the distributor’s unveiling of Europe’s first IBM virtual tape library 7520 (VTL) facility, last week, to showcase the product to partners and end users.

Thomson said: “DNS Arrow’s acquisition of Centia means it has a well-established virtual software offering. With the System X team, partners can obtain hardware, software and services from one place.”

In a statement, Stuart Hogg, IBM System X business manager, said: “IBM is very pleased that DNS Arrow has made such a great commitment to IBM’s System X business. Having partnered with DNS Arrow for many years, IBM is confident this will prove successful.”

Greg Carlow, managing director of DNS Arrow partner and IBM reseller Repton, said: “There is no clear leader in the market, so DNS Arrow is building up a relationship with its VARs and wants to be the premium place to go in the UK. It might benefit VARs that do not have the experience or skills, but it probably will not affect Repton.”