Westcon Adds Avaya to Technology Solution Centers

Westcon Group Inc. said that it will feature Avaya Inc.’s full portfolio of network solutions at its data center training and demonstration centers housed at company headquarters in Denver, Colorado.

The distributor opened its first U.S.-based LEAP Center--an acronym for Learn, Experience, Architect, Plan—in October, 2010, specifically for virtualized data center solutions and advanced technologies. It is intended to provide a venue for channel partner education, lab demonstrations, customer showcases, briefing and application benchmarking.

Westcon’s data center business comprises a smaller portion of its overall revenue and officials believe that the centers will grow the segment. Accordingly, the distributor has positioned the LEAP centers at the core of its channel partner enablement offerings.

Officials said that the full complement of Avaya networking solutions, including its Ethernet switching solutions and Virtual Services Platform (VSP) 7000 and 9000, will be incorporated into the LEAP centers.

“Our aim is to go beyond product demonstrations to offer a hands-on data center experience that mirrors real-world data center environments,” said Dean Douglas, Westcon president and chief executive.

"With the ability to configure each center to replicate an end-user’s environment, new functionality can easily be viewed and tested as it would appear in their current infrastructure,” he said.

Steve Bandrowczak, Avaya vice president and general manager, networking, said that Avaya’s presence at the LEAP Centers will boost networking business for channel partners.

“The centers offer hands-on access to our full networking portfolio, including the Avaya VSP 7000 and 9000, to help resellers increase value, capture high-growth opportunities and close deals with Avaya’s solutions,” he said.

The LEAP Center in Denver is modeled on a similar facility Westcon opened in Brussels, Belgium last year, and part of four the company plans to operate, with two other constructions slated for Australia and Singapore.