Ahead has achieved Data Center Unified Computing Authorized Technology Provider (ATP) status from Cisco. This designation recognizes Ahead as having the fulfilled the training and program prerequisites to sell, deploy, and support the Cisco Unified Computing System in the United States.
The Cisco Unified Computing System unites network, computational, storage access, and virtualization resources in a single energy-efficient system that can reduce the costs and complexity of information technology (IT) infrastructure, help extend capital assets, and improve business agility well into the future. A new computing model, the Cisco Unified Computing System uses integrated management and combines a “wire once” unified fabric with an industry-standard computing platform to optimize virtualization, reduce the data center’s total overall cost, and provide dynamic resource provisioning for businesses that are becoming increasingly collaborative, mobile, and distributed.
“Achieving this status demonstrates not only Ahead’s visionary technical expertise, but our commitment to being the trusted advisor to large enterprises on their journey to virtualization and private cloud,” said Tim Frank, Ahead’s vice president of sales. “Being a Cisco Data Center Unified Computing ATP, combined with being a VMware Premier Partner, an EMC Velocity Signature Partner, and a member of the Vblock partner ecosystem, equips Ahead to help our clients think, look, plan, and move ahead to the next-generation data center.”
“Taking advantage of an architectural shift in the data center, Cisco’s new computing model can help customers transform the data center into a dynamic IT environment with the power to increase productivity, improve efficiency, and drive virtualization to an entirely new level,” said John Growdon, director, Worldwide Channels Go-to-Market Group at Cisco. “As a Cisco Data Center Unified Computing Authorized Technology Provider, Ahead is a member of an elite ecosystem of industry leaders working with Cisco to stimulate technology innovation, augment service delivery, and accelerate the market adoption of unified computing.”
To qualify as a Cisco Data Center Unified Computing Authorized Technology Provider, Ahead had to meet a number of requirements. These included achieving the Cisco Data Center Networking Infrastructure Specialization and the Cisco Data Center Storage Networking Specialization, as well as demonstrating mature competencies in server, storage, and virtualization technologies.
Cisco’s Authorized Technology Provider Program is part of a comprehensive go-to-market strategy for emerging and advanced technologies. The program helps Cisco to define the knowledge, skills, and services that channel partners need to sell, deploy, and support these technologies. As the market changes, an ATP status is often the precursor to a Cisco specialization.