Microsoft Gold Partner The Mirazon Group Sees Huge Uptick in Clients Deploying Software-based Storage Virtualization from DataCore.
NEW ORLEANS – July 14, 2009 – At the Microsoft(r) Worldwide Partner Conference (WPC) 2009, DataCore Software, the leading provider of storage virtualization, business continuity and disaster recovery software solutions, today announced that The Mirazon Group, an IT solutions provider located in Louisville, Kentucky, has been named its “Central Region Partner of the Year” for the twelve months ending June 30, 2009. Mirazon, a very successful Microsoft Gold partner, has also done many virtualization and Microsoft Windows Server 2008(r) Hyper-V(tm) deployments in conjunction with DataCore. “We are thrilled to be named DataCore’s Partner of the Year in the Central Region,” states Barry Martin, partner and chief technical architect, The Mirazon Group. “We are firm believers in DataCore and their approach. Mirazon fundamentally sees software-based storage virtualization as strategic because of the value it provides and because of the flexibility of the solutions virtualization enables our firm to create. For our firm, storage is core and software-based storage virtualization is key.”
The Mirazon Group is comprised of 25 people, of which 18 are practicing consultants. Currently, the firm has 30 client companies using DataCore SAN solutions for software-based storage virtualization. Mirazon Group clients using DataCore include: E-On (formally Louisville Gas & Electric Company), External IT, Genlyte Group, GSI Hosting, Hoefer Wysocki Architects, Homecare Homebase, Inoac Packaging Group, Internetek, ISCO Industries, Jefferson National Financial Corp, Kentucky Neighborhood Bank, Kentucky Trailer, Louisville Bedding, M.E. Group, Mountjoy, My Career Network, National Distributors, Omaha Fixture International, Orr Safety, Premium Finance Specialists, QSR Automation, Realityworks, Speed Art Museum, Sullivan University, Trilogy Health Services, and Whip Mix Corporation, among others.
“Storage is at the core of every solution with which we are involved – it is that fundamental,” comments Martin. He and his colleague, Solutions Architect Craig Stein, feel that software-based storage virtualization enables their firm to take advantage of new technologies, including hardware, that are coming out all the time. “Software-based storage virtualization lets our firm and our customers take advantage of what is quickly becoming the commoditization of storage hardware in our industry,” notes Stein. “We can use commodity-priced servers and disks with DataCore running on top of these to create a tremendous value proposition.”
A Trusted IT Advisor that Puts Virtualization at the Heart of It All
Mirazon’s expertise spans both IT consulting and solutions integration. In practice, what this means is that the firm can take products that it offers on behalf of its vendor partners and weave various products together to form more complete solutions.
Serving as a trusted IT advisor to its clients, The Mirazon Group’s mission revolves around “Providing Vision for Technology Solutions.” The company earns the trust of its clients by always keeping the client’s best interests at heart. “We have found that virtualization now is touching just about every solution that we do-from the largest to the smallest customer,” states Stein. “Virtualization is part of a roadmap for all of our clients.”
“We seek to understand the environment BEFORE we present a solution,” continues Stein. “Our customers respond very favorably to this. They like the fact that we don’t just tell them what they need right-off-the-bat. What we do up front is ask a lot of questions. We in turn try and educate them as far as what the options and alternatives are – in order to select the right solution. That solution may be the one – to the surprise of our customers – that is frequently NOT the most expensive solution. Apart from blowing our customers’ minds – by recommending the lower cost solutions – this also serves to prove to them that we are in fact acting in their best interests.”
The Power of DataCore – Flexibility
The mindset that The Mirazon Group has always had is that they want customers to have a choice and they want customers to make the best choice for their business. Using virtualized storage enables customers to have this freedom of choice – particularly in terms of brand of hardware. “Beyond the technology, we like working with DataCore as a company,” emphasizes Martin. “The employees of DataCore are top-notch. They are great people and they have the same focus we do – the success of the customer. It is very enjoyable to work together with DataCore as a partner company and we appreciate that they are 100% channel-driven.”
In business since February 2000, The Mirazon Group has been able to set itself apart from the average IT solutions provider by having a specific virtualization practice that is industry-certified. The firm has VMware-Certified Professionals on staff. It is one of the first solutions providers certified as a Microsoft Virtualization Partner in terms of their virtualization competency. Several individuals at The Mirazon Group are certified on Microsoft Windows 2008 Hyper-V Server platform. Moreover, Mirazon is a Citrix-certified partner with engineers certified on Citrix XenServer. The firm also partners with numerous vendors squarely in the virtualization space. DataCore is a prime example. Another partner of Mirazon is Veeam Software, who has the backup solution to the other virtualization solutions offered by Mirazon.
“Nobody has the complete feature set that DataCore has in a software-based storage virtualization solution,” concludes Martin. “More than that, in terms of the quality of DataCore’s virtualization solutions, our experience has been – install it and it works. That is how a SAN has to function. It has to be rock-solid.”
Solution Providers
VARs and system integrators that would like to partner with DataCore should visit https://www.datacore.com/stepuptodatacore or contact an authorized distributor.
DataCore and Microsoft – Virtual Storage for a Virtual World
DataCore is essential to Microsoft Hyper-V configurations. DataCore yields the highest availability, fastest performance and fullest utilization from storage assets, making it an essential element of Microsoft Hyper-V configurations. To learn more about DataCore and Microsoft solutions, please visit: https://www.datacore.com/microsoft.
See DataCore at the Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference (WPC)
See DataCore in booth #301 at the Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference. Microsoft WPC 2009 provides a forum to learn about the latest Microsoft products, programs, strategies, and cutting-edge technologies. Microsoft WPC09 runs July 13-16, 2009 in New Orleans, LA at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center. For more, visit http://www.digitalwpc.com/.
About The Mirazon Group
The Mirazon Group was formed to provide networking infrastructure assistance to business big or small. Our staff is made up of Microsoft Certified Systems Engineers, Microsoft Certified Trainers, Certified VMware and SAN Engineers and Certified Cisco professionals. The team of professionals Mirazon employs has been providing state of the art technical services for over 20 years. Architectural designers and project managers alike are skilled in being able to reduce implementation time of projects and lower the total cost of applying new technology. For more, go to http://www.mirazon.com/.
About DataCore Software
DataCore Software, the leading provider of storage virtualization SAN software, fundamentally changes the economics of managing storage with innovative software that combines advanced functions and services with the agility and savings of hardware independence. DataCore lowers the cost and complexity of IT by making storage efficient, fast, flexible, fail-safe and virtual. DataCore’s portable storage server software simplifies and automates capacity expansion and centralizes storage management for Windows, UNIX, Linux, MacOS and NetWare operating systems as well as hypervisors from Microsoft, VMware, Citrix, and other suppliers. DataCore is privately held and its corporate headquarters are in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. For more information, call (877) 780-5111 or visit https://www.datacore.com.
DataCore and the DataCore logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of DataCore Software Corporation. Other DataCore product or service names or logos referenced herein are trademarks of DataCore Software Corporation. All other products, services and company names mentioned herein may be trademarks of their respective owners.
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