Bell Micro has entered the virtual world with the signing of its first UK virtualisation vendor, Parallels.

The distributor has claimed the deal means it can now offer resellers a complete datacentre solution, comprising storage, server and virtualisation technology.

Mervyn Hall, datacentre solution business manager at Bell, said: “Bell can now virtualise a whole datacentre with Parallels, Datacore and Brocade. Our portfolio now consists of virtual desktop infrastructure, servers and storage.”
Bell, which will work alongside Parallels’s existing UK distributor CDG, will add Parallels’s Virtuozzo Containers to its portfolio.

Virtuozzo partitions a single Windows or Linux operating system instance into virtual environments, so multiple containers can share memory, for greater density.

Hall said the distributor had been looking at the virtualisation market for some time.
“Bell was not happy with what other vendors were offering, but Parallels impressed with an offering that was different and fitted in with our portfolio,” he said.

Russell Blackburn, UK country manager of Parallels, said: “Parallels was very interested in Bell’s enterprise focus.”
Blackburn explained that since the vendor launched its channel programme in February, Parallels has been working with Bell to recruit UK resellers.

“Bell Micro has accredited six engineers to sell Parallels’s products, as virtualisation is a very hot topic at the moment,” he added.

Robin Porter, business development manager for Parallels partner Repton, said: “Bell Micro is a good broadline distributor, with a good grasp of the virtualisation market. It is a good choice to partner with.”
Mark Russell, Parallels business manager at CDG, said: “Bell Micro is a broadliner whereas CDG is a specialist, so we are excited to be working alongside it.”