Arrow ECS Adds NetApp Support to Professional Services Portfolio

Further expanding its professional services offerings, Arrow Enterprise Computing Solutions, a business segment of Arrow Electronics Inc. [NYSE: ARW], now offers professional services for NetApp® products sold to general business customers in North America.

Effective March 1, 2010, NetApp began transitioning the management and execution of its professional services for North America commercial resellers to its distributors. Transitioning services includes standard installation support, rapid deployment services and firm-fixed-price custom configurations.

This change permits Arrow ECS to more effectively provide standard installation and configuration support for customers in North America that have purchased from United States and Canadian commercial resellers certified by NetApp. The transition does not apply to resellers or accounts that transact business directly with NetApp or to the United States public sector. NetApp Authorized Professional Services Providers that are also resellers continue to be able to scope, sell and deliver professional services on their own, or they can obtain those services through Arrow ECS, using NetApp® certified technical resources.

"Arrow ECS will offer the same level of engineering expertise on storage infrastructure designs as was previously available from NetApp,” said Pat Weber, vice president of professional services for NetApp. "Transitioning our professional services to our distributors will enable faster delivery of and more comprehensive support for resellers and their customers.”

"Arrow ECS performed an install for us that was completed efficiently and smoothly,” said Janice Slayton, director of professional services for IAS, a reseller that has worked with Arrow ECS for several years and is among the first to receive professional services on NetApp solutions from Arrow ECS. "As Arrow ECS is closely involved with our business on a daily basis, it was very easy to arrange the install with their engineers.”

The NetApp authorization adds to Arrow ECS’ growing professional services business. The distributor established a professional services business unit earlier this year to formalize and continue expanding its professional services offerings. It provides technical, engineering and educational support for the full portfolio of hardware, storage and software lines in North America. In addition, it offers proprietary services and managed and cloud computing solutions. Arrow ECS only sells the services to and through its resellers.

"Arrow ECS is pleased to receive this authorization from NetApp,” said Joe Burke, vice president of worldwide services for Arrow ECS. "This is an indication of the value that we can provide in best supporting the needs of resellers and their customers in this area.”

"Arrow ECS has a proven record of successfully managing professional services offerings for several other suppliers, and we have provided presales engineering and educational support for NetApp resellers for the past several years,” said Sean Kerins, vice president of Arrow ECS’ North American storage and networking group that manages the distributor’s NetApp business. "We are confident that the transition for NetApp resellers will not disrupt their business. Our network of professional services representatives will work collaboratively with our NetApp sales team to ensure that resellers receive personalized, dedicated support to help them maximize every sales opportunity with professional services support.”

For more information, resellers can contact Troy Fortune, director of sales for Arrow ECS’ North American NetApp business, at 952-975-3715 or Lee Fawcett, vice president of Arrow ECS’ North American professional services, at 303-790-2330. They also can send an e-mail to psopps@arrow.com or visit http://ecs.arrow.com/services/professional_services.html.

ABOUT ARROW ENTERPRISE COMPUTING SOLUTIONS

Arrow ECS, a business segment of Arrow Electronics Inc. [NYSE: ARW], provides enterprise and midrange computing products, services and solutions to value-added resellers, system integrators, and independent software vendors. Based in Englewood, Colo., and with offices in 26 countries, Arrow ECS connects its customers to the world’s foremost technology suppliers. Arrow ECS reported $4.9 billion in global enterprise computing solution sales in 2009. Visit ecs.arrow.com for more information.

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