ALISO VIEJO, Calif., Feb. 19, 2013 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- QLogic (Nasdaq:QLGC), a leading supplier of high performance network infrastructure solutions, today announced that Rob Crawford, senior vice president of worldwide sales, has been named one of UBM Tech Channel's CRN 2013 Channel Chiefs for the second consecutive year. This prestigious list of the most influential and powerful leaders in the IT channel recognizes those executives directly responsible for driving channel sales and growth within their organization, while evangelizing and defending the importance of the channel throughout the entire IT industry.
"With the introduction of new solutions including cache-enabled adapters based on our Mt. Rainier technology, QLogic is placing a strong emphasis on creating new business opportunities for our channel partners this year by expanding our Signature Partner Program with enhanced training and benefits, and launching the QLogic Advanced Solutions Partner Program," said Crawford. "QLogic channel partners have been critical to helping us continue our Fibre Channel leadership and gain momentum in the 10Gb Ethernet space. The Advanced Solutions Partner Program opens new doors and creates additional revenue opportunities by enabling resellers to address some of the most performance-challenged areas in the data center. This program provides innovative, clustered application acceleration and shared caching solutions built on our industry-leading adapters."
QLogic Drives 16Gb Fibre Channel Adapter Innovation with Channel Partners
Under Crawford's leadership, QLogic worked closely with channel partners to launch its next-generation FlexSuite™ 2600 Series adapters. These "dual-personality" adapters fit seamlessly into current installations as a 16Gb Fibre Channel adapter today and provide end-user field upgradeability to a 10Gb Ethernet (10GbE)-based converged network adapter (CNA) in the future. Unlike rip-and-replace and pay-as-you go alternatives, these adapters use QLogic I/OFlex technology to provide organizations with a future-proof approach to building highly agile infrastructures, protecting existing Fibre Channel investments and delivering a simplified and cost-effective path to network convergence.
Company Expands Partner Program to Support Innovations Such as Mt. Rainier Technology
To support an expanding solutions portfolio, including upcoming products based on the company's Mt. Rainier shared SSD caching adapter technology and other breakthrough data center innovations, Crawford expanded the QLogic Signature Partner Program with the addition of an Advanced Solutions Partner tier. Authorized Advanced Solutions Partners will gain the skills, training and tools to successfully deploy and support new high-margin data center connectivity technology sales plus exclusive access to top-level program benefits and resources.
Under Crawford, QLogic deepened its relationships with the company's existing partner base. Current partners moved up into higher Signature Partner program levels, recognizing the growing opportunities available through high-end QLogic solutions sales. The company invested in a new 24/7 marketing automation platform, putting a higher volume of qualified end-user leads into the hands of QLogic Signature Partners even faster. Crawford added new partner development representatives to focus on driving partner growth and expanded QLogic's sales team internationally and in North America to enhance the local touch of QLogic global solutions. Crawford also led the expansion of the QLogic Solutions Lab, adding extensive new demo equipment to accommodate partner proof-of-concept solutions testing, customer briefings and product demos.
"The 2013 Channel Chiefs list recognizes vendor executives dedicated to driving channel programs in the IT marketplace," said Kelley Damore, senior vice president, editorial director, CRN. "Our annual Channel Chiefs issue is a must-read for IT solution providers evaluating new vendors or looking to expand solution offerings. These are the people, the products and the programs that any savvy solution provider needs to know. We congratulate this year's Channel Chiefs for their stellar record of business innovation and applaud them for their continued dedication to the partner community."
All QLogic Signature Partners receive registration discounts, no-cost demo equipment, reward spiffs, product promotions and free training certifications. Resellers interested in qualifying for the QLogic Signature Partner Program should send inquiries to channelmarketing@qlogic.com
For more than ten years, Channel Chiefs have been selected by the CRN editorial team based on channel experience, program innovations, channel-driven revenue, and public support for the importance of IT Channel Sales. Selected by CRN's editorial staff, the 2013 Channel Chiefs list is featured in the 2/25/13 issue of CRN Magazine and will be featured online at www.crn.com.
About UBM Tech Channel (www.ubmchannel.com)
UBM Tech Channel, a UBM company, is the premier provider of IT channel-focused events, media, research, consulting, and sales and marketing services. With over 30 years of experience and engagement, UBM Tech Channel has the unmatched channel expertise to execute integrated solutions for technology executives managing partner recruitment, enablement and go-to-market strategy in order to accelerate technology sales. To learn more about UBM Tech Channel, visit us at: www.ubmchannel.com.
UBM llc (www.ubm.com)
UBM llc is a leading global business media company. We inform markets and bring the world's buyers and sellers together at events, online, in print and provide them with the information they need to do business successfully. We focus on serving professional commercial communities, from doctors to game developers, from journalists to jewelry traders, from farmers to pharmacists around the world. Our 6,000 staff in more than 30 countries is organized into specialist teams that serve these communities, helping them to do business and their markets to work effectively and efficiently. For more information, go to www.ubm.com
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QLogic—the Ultimate in Performance
QLogic (Nasdaq:QLGC) is a global leader and technology innovator in high performance networking, including adapters, switches and ASICs. Leading OEMs and channel partners worldwide rely on QLogic products for their data, storage and server networking solutions. For more information, visit www.qlogic.com.
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This press release contains statements relating to future results of the company (including certain beliefs and projections regarding business and market trends) that are "forward-looking statements" as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected or implied in the forward-looking statements. The company advises readers that these potential risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to: unfavorable economic conditions; potential fluctuations in operating results; gross margins that may vary over time; the stock price of the company may be volatile; the company's dependence on the networking markets served; the ability to maintain and gain market or industry acceptance of the company's products; the company's dependence on a small number of customers; the company's ability to compete effectively with other companies; the complexity of the company's products; declining average unit sales prices of comparable products; the company's dependence on sole source and limited source suppliers; the company's dependence on relationships with certain third-party subcontractors and contract manufacturers; the ability to attract and retain key personnel; sales fluctuations arising from customer transitions to new products; seasonal fluctuations and uneven sales patterns in orders from customers; a reduction in sales efforts by current distributors; changes in the company's tax provisions or adverse outcomes resulting from examination of its income tax returns; international economic, currency, regulatory, political and other risks; facilities of the company and its suppliers and customers are located in areas subject to natural disasters; the ability to protect proprietary rights; the ability to satisfactorily resolve any infringement claims; uncertain benefits from strategic business combinations, acquisitions and divestitures; declines in the market value of the company's marketable securities; changes in and compliance with regulations; difficulties in transitioning to smaller geometry process technologies; the use of "open source" software in the company's products; and security system risks, data protection breaches and cyber-attacks.
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