DataCore Software is looking to double its number of channel partners in the UK and Europe, following the launch of the latest version of its flagship software.

The vendor recently unveiled SANSymphony Enterprise Edition 6, its virtualisation software, which the vendor has claimed will allow IT managers to manage their storage infrastructure at a higher level, instead of administering it at the device or component level.

George Teixeira, chief executive of DataCore, said the firm started shipping the product at VMWorld at the back end of last year, and 400 have already been sold.

“Two years ago we decided to focus on the Citrix and VMware channels, which bought us into a different part of the sales cycle,” he told CRN.

“In the past nine months, more than 70 per cent of our installs have been with VMware, when firms are virtualising their servers. Most companies now realise that when they are virtualising their servers they may as well do their storage at the same time. This is where we come in.”

Teixeira added that focusing alongside VMware had bought the firm new resellers.

“We still don’t have the right partner set in the UK,” he said. “We have about 50 partners worldwide and I’d like to double this. In the UK I would like 12 strong partners. At the moment we have about four very active and strong UK partners.”

Julian Box, managing director of reseller VirtualizeIT, said: “DataCore does not have a huge market in the UK yet, so I can understand why it wants to expand. But this should be a controlled expansion.

“The product set is strong and the extra features in version 6 strengthen it further. It is now a primary product for us.”

Box added that DataCore sales are often tied into its VMware sales.

“We specialise in virtual infrastructure, so DataCore is a key product for us and usually quite integrated into our implementation designs,” he said. “VMware and DataCore go hand-in-hand, but aren’t exclusive to each other.”

Bell the first to get down to DataCore