McDATA(R) Corporation today announced it has entered into a three-year OEM relationship with Compaq Computer Corporation.
Under the agreement, Compaq will market and distribute McDATA’s hardware and software products worldwide under the StorageWorks and SANworks brand names. McDATA’s Galaxy-class 6000 Series Director and its Enterprise Fabric Connectivity Manager (EFCM) software are the first products that will be introduced by Compaq under the terms of this agreement.
“Compaq StorageWorks prides itself on providing customers with value and best-in-class solutions,” said Mark Lewis, vice president and general manager of Compaq’s Enterprise Storage Group. “McDATA’s 6000 Series Director delivers a highly scalable and upgradeable platform that meets today’s Fibre Channel SAN requirements and is positioned for future storage networking specifications and emerging protocols. Many of our customers have asked for Director-class enterprise SAN switching solutions, and with the addition of McDATA’s Galaxy-class Directors to our excellent portfolio of StorageWorks switching products, we’re meeting their requests head-on.”
Jack McDonnell, CEO and Chairman of McDATA, added: “We are pleased to announce our OEM agreement with Compaq, the largest SAN supplier in the world. This agreement, which represents the first step in a growing relationship, signifies a strong market endorsement for McDATA and our position as a strategic SAN infrastructure supplier. McDATA’s 6000 Series Director is the most reliable and highly available SAN director product available today, and it provides customers significant flexibility and investment protection through its ability to upgrade to 2 and 10 Gb and to support emerging protocols. McDATA and Compaq share a commitment to solving customers’ storage networking requirements today and in the future.”
According to the companies, the OEM partnership was executed only after extensive application testing by Compaq and McDATA, which validates the advanced capabilities of McDATA’s 6000 Series Director, ensuring full functionality and smooth implementation in Compaq StorageWorks solutions. Compaq will sell the McDATA Director and EFCM software through direct and indirect channels beginning in the fourth quarter of 2001.
