What's more, CDW would be required to have the same technical and sales certifications as other HP enterprise solution providers, Vertrees said. "CDW will be an extension and reach of HP to penetrate new business in the SMB marketplace," he said. "It is CDW's and HP's intent to compete on value and not price."
In addition to HP, CDW has sold four-way servers from Sun Microsystems for more than a year.
Jim Grass, senior director of sales at CDW, said, "We understand the SMB marketplace, and we will serve those customers of ours as they continue to grow and get into more complex solutions."
CDW plans to pass off installation and other services opportunities to third-party partners, Grass said. Agilysys' ESG will get the bulk of leads, but CDW will use other companies depending on the geography and scope of the work, he said.
Some leads from CDW might flow to KeyLink Systems resellers, in addition to its ESG, said Patrick O'Connor, vice president of product marketing for HP worldwide at Agilysys. He dismissed charges that CDW and Agilysys would compete primarily on price. "It's truly a value-add sell."
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