Significantly enhancing its product and solution portfolio, Bytes Systems Integration has signed up as a value-added distributor (VAD) for Internet protocol and cloud vendor Alcatel Lucent Enterprise and created a dedicated business unit focused on its solutions.
Effective immediately, the agency covers South and South East Africa, including the Indian Ocean Islands, and provides Bytes SI with access to the vendor’s comprehensive portfolio of products and services making available secure, high-performance communications and network infrastructures via its reseller channel.
Bytes SI divisional MD Patrick Hastings says the agreement is a natural progression as it has operated as an Alcatel Lucent Enterprise sub-distributor for many years.
“To put it into perspective, via organisational name changes which include STC, Alcatel Business Systems, Bytes Communications, Bytes Connect and now Bytes Systems Integration, we have enjoyed a relationship and have been selling this product since the late 1980s,” he notes.
By becoming a fully-recognised partner, Hastings says Bytes SI now enjoys access to Education Services, which equips its resellers to validate skills and knowledge through official diplomas, and a Certification Program which enables them to be compliant with Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise Partner Program requirements and specialisations. “We currently have 114 certifications from Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise at various levels,” he adds.
Ravin Naidu, regional director, South & East Africa, Alcatel Lucent Enterprise says, “We are delighted to announce Bytes as our new VAD in South and south east Africa. Distribution is vital in the future path for Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise as distributors have the flexibility to offer complementary and value-added services to support resellers, regardless of the size of their businesses.
“We look forward to growing all aspects of our distribution business to support our customers in the African continent and this new relationship with Bytes is in line with our growth strategy to widen the reach of our products and solutions in the market.”
Bytes SI has appointed Leslie Cawood as Divisional Manager, Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise, who has decades of experience working with the technologies of Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise and its precursor companies. “I’ve been privileged to be part of our company’s growth with Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise since the 1980s and have played various roles in expanding market presence in South Africa and increasingly attractive African markets,” he says.
Given the length of the engagement, the depth of knowledge that Bytes SI has across the market and the vendor’s range of solutions for internet protocol and cloud, Cawood believes the timing is perfect to advance to Value Added Distributor status. “It gives us the ability to add more value around the products and technologies in terms of training and support – and that’s critical in supporting the solutions that our resellers take to end users,” he points out.
Hastings says Bytes SI is recognised as a preferred partner in the South East Africa and Indian Ocean Islands region.
“Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise is a leader in many of the voice, data, wireless and application segments. With its channel go-to-market strategy, they have been very successful in Africa in the Enterprise space. As for potential, Bytes SI now has the opportunity to grow the brand name via a dedicated business unit and channel,” he concludes.
