Cisco and Pure Storage Team to Advance Flash Storage Networking

In terms of revolutionizing key performance factors , no storage technology in the last decade has had more of an impact than flash. So it stands to reason that go-to-market models within the storage and storage networking industry have also evolved at a rapid pace.

A perfect illustration is the recent expansion of our collaborative efforts with Pure Storage. Pure Storage is now an official Cisco Original Storage Manufacturer (OSM) with the ability to resell the Cisco MDS portfolio as part of a fully integrated, flash-based storage area network (SAN). Pure Storage already delivers joint value and solutions to customers as a Cisco Preferred Solution Provider , and this OSM partnership is the next logical step in the long-standing, productive and mutually beneficial working relationship between the two companies.

As an OSM, Pure Storage can now offer the Cisco MDS 9000 family of director SAN switches as part of a comprehensive set of flash-storage solutions directly available from Pure Storage and its channel partners.

“This Cisco OSM go-to-market strategy provides our joint Cisco and Pure Customers the scalability, security and performance needed for next-generation flash environments,” said Ryan Sheehan, General Manager of Sales at SHI. “The simplicity of a single point of purchase for comprehensive, best-in-class SAN solutions will provide immediate value for our customers.”

“Our expanded relationship with Cisco enables us to quickly and easily provide end-to-end solutions that benefit our mutual customers and deliver on Pure’s core promise of simplicity,” said Andy Martin, VP of Americas Channel and Alliance for Pure Storage. “As a 100 percent channel-focused company, it’s equally critical to arm our channel partners with new innovations, offerings and strategies to satisfy the rapidly expanding and highly personalized needs of modern IT.”

Why Customers Should Care

With this formal OSM relationship, Cisco and Pure Storage can now provide customers with solutions that deliver unparalleled scale, management, storage intelligence and connectivity options for flash deployments. Innovation is not limited just to technology, however. As an OSM, Pure Storage retains the primary solution distribution role but can also leverage the Cisco direct sales force to actively provide information about the MDS-family switches at the end-user and channel level.

For Cisco, this announcement demonstrates our commitment to developing unique go-to-market strategies to promote next-gen storage and SAN solutions including flash. Selling in cooperation with and through Pure Storage to take our storage networking products to market provides a coverage model to optimize productivity improvements and business success for our customers.

Our customers can expect to see more innovative, jointly supported solutions as a result. With FlashStack solutions Cisco and Pure Storage have already added value in the rapidly growing converged infrastructure market for Virtual Server , Virtual Desktop infrastructure , and Oracle Real Application Clusters , among many others.

Summary

With its revolutionary performance and capabilities the advent and evolution of flash storage has profoundly changed the storage networking industry landscape. Through the Cisco OSM Partner Program, Cisco and Pure Storage will continue to establish new standards for breakthrough levels of user experience, industry-leading performance and operational efficiency.

For more info please visit: www.cisco.com/go/mds

Tony Antony
Sr Marketing Manager