Avnet Technology Solutions, the global IT solutions distribution leader and operating group of Avnet, Inc., today announced its HP-designated Cloud Center of Excellence (CCoE) at its Global Solutions Center in Chandler, Ariz. Avnet's HP value-added reseller (VAR) partners in the U.S. and Canada can use the CCoE facility to show prospects the benefits of incorporating cloud computing solutions from HP into their data centers and IT environments. As part of its HP CCoE, Avnet has created a number of cloud solutions templates, enabling partners to rapidly create proof of concept cloud
models as well as live and remote demonstrations specific to their prospects' business challenges.

"Avnet has offered live and remote solutions demonstration capabilities to our partners for years, and we have consistently seen that participating partners close deals faster and more profitably," said Tony Vottima, senior vice president and general manager, HP Solutions Group, Avnet Technology Solutions, Americas. "We invested in bringing these exciting demonstration capabilities to our partners around cloud computing to align with HP's business strategy for the data center and capitalize on the growth potential of The Cloud. Using Avnet's HP Cloud Center of Excellence, our partners can reduce much of the upfront time and resource costs associated with creating demos and accelerate their time to market."

Avnet's HP CCoE is built on HP's CloudSystem, a complete, integrated and open platform that enables enterprises and service providers to build and manage services across private, public and hybrid cloud environments. Based on HP Converged Infrastructure and HP Cloud Service Automation software, HP CloudSystem delivers unified deployment and management of cloud services across private, public and hybrid models. Partners can leverage Avnet's pre-configured demonstration templates for specific market and customer needs, including the full life cycle of provisioning, monitoring and managing applications.

"Avnet's investment in rolling out an HP Cloud Center of Excellence exemplifies their expertise and commitment to helping partners profitably target technology and vertical market growth opportunities," said Pat Stewart, chief executive officer of Pepperweed Consulting, a leader in IT enterprise management and integration and an HP Software Elite Partner. "This type of commitment and assistance was a key reason behind Pepperweed Consulting's recent switch to Avnet as our HP solution distributor and positions us for success in the cloud management market. Having worked with Avnet's technical experts to build their HP Cloud Center of Excellence, we look forward to leveraging this center, our value-add components and Avnet's expertise to continue to demystify cloud computing and show Pepperweed's clients the tangible results and benefits of deploying managed private cloud environments."

Partners looking to reduce the time and costs associated with onsite demonstrations can access the HP CCoE virtually through Avnet's Demo Center, an online remote portal that provides access to virtual demonstrations for key supplier and industry solutions across a variety of IT environments. The portal provides a hands-on technology learning experience that enables partners to train their sales and technical teams. Additionally, partners can use the portal to train their sales and technical teams on HP's CloudSystem and HP Cloud Service Automation software in a variety of IT environments.

Partners can also gain greater expertise around cloud-based solutions through Avnet's CloudReady initiative. For more than a year, CloudReady has enabled and prepared partners to capitalize on cloud computing growth opportunities. It includes education and training, financing solutions, professional services, technical resources and integrated cloud computing solutions. Additionally, partners can leverage Avnet's SolutionsPath vertical market practices in conjunction with CloudReady, providing them with specialization in the high-growth vertical markets of energy, finance, government, healthcare and retail.

For additional information, visit http://www.avnetadvantage.com/HP.