Sun, Aptec, AMD partner forum to highlight Sun portfolio of software and hardware

The one-day partner forum is being jointly organised by Sun Microsystems MENA, Aptec, and AMD, and will take place on April 16, 2007, at the One & Only Royal Mirage Hotel, Dubai.

Sun has determined that channel opportunities for its AMD-based solutions are set to increase by more than 20 per cent in the Middle East during 2007. At the same time, Aptec is working to increase the skills base around Sun Software & Hardware in the region to address specific business opportunities in the next three quarters.

"The forum will create an opportunity to familiarise our channel partners with Sun's software portfolio, especially for small- and medium-sized businesses," said Jamie Bliss, Software Practice Manager at Sun Microsystems, MENA. "Software is one of the fastest-growing market segments for Sun in the Middle East and our customers will undoubtedly benefit from enhanced partner coverage and understanding to leverage the solutions."

A central element of the partner forum is Sun's partnership with AMD, which produces high-performance, reliable Opteron-based server solutions primarily for the region's mid-market. Both AMD experts and Sun specialists will present the benefits of AMD's processor platform, and how mid-sized businesses in the MENA region are using AMD-based servers from Sun to enhance performance and efficiency.

"Ilyas Mohammed, Sun business unit manager at Aptec said:

"This forum provides us with a platform to our resellers, and create greater awareness for Sun's software and AMD-based solutions. We believe that there is significant sales and service opportunity in the SME's and Enterprise space. Aptec in association with our sister company Advanced Technology Services (ATS) is building a team which will help us offer our partners end-to-end solutions, like pre and post sales(implementation services), proof-of-concepts, product sales, and post-sales support services across all products."

Aptec is aggressively recruiting channel partners from around the Middle East region to serve its new Sun practice, more than 100 of which are attending the business Partner Forum.

Hazem Bayado, Business Development Manager Middle East, North Africa & Pakistan, AMD, said: "Sun and AMD's joint business in the MENA region has grown steadily in the last year, primarily because of our cooling technology that enables businesses in the region to spend less on the air conditioning inside their data centers. With real estate at a premium and cooling costs increasing, companies in the region are embracing solutions from Sun and AMD to address these issues while delivering superior processing performance."