CSA to distribute Unisys servers in S'pore

Yesterday, both CSA and Unisys announced a partnership to bring the Intel-based Unisys ES7000 server to the Republic.

But CSA does not see any potential conflict with Sun following the former's latest deal. "The partnership was brought about in the best interest of customers. We wanted to provide them with the best options available.

"CSA is still committed to Sun but if a customer wants a different architecture, then the Unisys partnership would give them that alternative," said Robert Fu, CSA Enterprise Business Unit general manager.

CSA is also a Sun distributor across the region--including Hong Kong, Malaysia and Indonesia.

And the new relationship does not pose a threat to Sun. "Sun and CSA share a long and mutually beneficial relationship over 10 years. We are confident of our comprehensive range of products, and the strength of our partnerships," said Sun Asia South Channel Sales director Tan Kwang Meng.

On whether the CSA-Unisys partnership would be extended to these countries, Fu said that this would depend on the management in those countries. However, its Hong Kong and Malaysia units "were interested in current developments and keeping a close eye on things", he added.

As for customer support for the ES7000 here, both parties, together with Intel and Microsoft would work towards addressing customers' technical issues, said Fu.

Running up to 32 Intel Itanium processors, the ES7000 runs on either the Windows NT, 2000 server edition or SCO UnixWare. Currently, only UnixWare is supported although other versions will be provided for shortly, said Unisys Singapore general manager Ng Li Koon.