Artecon consolidates UK beachhead

California-based storage specialist Artecon is looking for channel partners to join its distribution team now that it is firmly established in the UK following the completion of its merger with Storage Dimensions. Account manager Robert Taylor commented: "We are looking for new distributors. A reseller must be able to add something to the sale since it is a very technical market." He added that margin on products was still good. The company currently has distribution agreements with Aslan and Ideal Hardware. It also has a direct sales operation, which it says it will continue to back. The Storage Dimensions merger makes Artecon UK the fourth biggest player in the open storage market, according to IDC. Analysts said the market gained a stronger competitor, with a revenue run rate of $170 million. The company recently released the SuperFlex 7000 Fibre channel RAID storage solution and announced Redundant Data Path for NT. "RDP is a new software package that improves the performance and resilience of RAID storage systems with dual active controllers," said CEO Jim Lambert. ®