Fujitsu has been appointed as the NetApp OEM on the government transversal contract.
This means Fujitsu will be responsible for updating product specifications and pricing for government’s NetApp technology requirements. NetApp has named Fujitsu as its government OEM, and this has now been confirmed by the State IT Agency (SITA). Fujitsu thus becomes the de facto NetApp OEM Supplier via the channel to government, explains John Blignault, corporate sales executive at Fujitsu South Africa.
With NetApp being established on the SITA Transversal contracts, Government departments can now take full advantage of NetApp’s industry leading storage solutions in the area of hybrid and multi-cloud environments. Access to the full product set is available through any of the NetApp certified partners listed on SITA 2003 (and 2012/17 when awarded).
NetApp is among the top storage vendors in the world. When the company withdrew its direct operation from South Africa earlier this year, it assigned OEM status to Fujitsu, which has now secured NetApp on the SITA transversal contract.
“Through Fujitsu’s marketing and support, NetApp is a focus within government,” Blignault explains.
Fujitsu recently won the NetApp Partner of the Year award for Europe, demonstrating the confidence NetApp has in the organisation.
Hannes Burger, MD of Fujitsu South Africa, adds that the NetApp transversal award is important to Fujitsu for many reasons.
“Part of the major investment from Fujitsu into Africa has been signing up as an OEM on behalf of NetApp in Africa.”
Burger points out that Fujitsu and NetApp are closely aligned globally, and work together on co-creation and generating new value propositions. Fujitsu’s global partnership with NetApp covers both a technology partnership delivering certified Infrastructure Solutions (such as SAP Appliances) as well as value-added distribution, an area of particular strength in southern Africa.
“It’s important that people understand this: because we are a value-added distributor we are able to supply NetApp solutions, to be used with any compute platforms, as well as Fujitsu solutions that embed NetApp technology,” Burger explains.
When it comes to NetApp solutions, Fujitsu’s value-add proposition goes well beyond the product.
“For the NetApp solution, we also bring our thought leadership to the party,” Burger says. “This encompasses pre-sales, architecture and post-sales.
“We have immense skills in this area – and that is what partners want: the thought leadership.”
Burger explains that this skill goes well beyond technical knowledge.
“It is very important that we are able to articulate the solution in a way that the business leadership understands. “It is this level of thought leadership and the ability to take on the trusted advisor role that have made Fujitsu South Africa so successful.”