DataCore Software, the premier provider of storage virtualization software, and Planet Technologies, the leading Microsoft consulting and services company, announced today that Planet Technologies has joined the DataCore Premier Partner Program. The company is now equipped to deploy the DataCore SANsymphony-V storage virtualization platform, allowing them to help customers manage their heterogeneous storage environments while simplifying management. Planet Technologies' customers will also be able to extend the useful life of existing hardware, while maintaining storage independence and being able to choose the storage hardware that best fits their needs.

"Our commitment to investing in and developing long term relationships with our customers means that we need to not only be in tune with their needs today, but also to look ahead to how those needs will evolve in the future as their business grows and evolves," said Andrew Kagan, chief technology officer at Planet Technologies. "By offering SANsymphony-V, we are better equipped to help our customers address disruptive storage technologies such as Flash, integrating them seamlessly into their existing storage environments."

Headquartered in Germantown, Maryland, Planet Technologies has been offering software solutions and consulting services to federal, state and local agencies, as well as to education and enterprise customers since 1997. Having been named Microsoft Federal Partner of the Year six times and Microsoft State and Local Partner of the Year three times, Planet Technologies is a trusted resource for companies looking to pursue IT initiatives such as virtualization and IT consolidation, cloud adoption and migration, and Microsoft Sharepoint adoption, among others. The company enables customers to get the most out of their IT investments by not only keeping employees well-trained on the latest technologies they support, but also understanding each customer's unique business needs and integrating technology into a holistic, long-term strategic plan.

DataCore's SANsymphony-V R9 is an agnostic storage virtualization platform that enables companies to avoid hardware lock-in and purchase only the equipment that best suits their business goals. DataCore's software empowers customers' existing storage and significantly improves business critical application performance. Advanced features, such as automated storage tiering, allow IT administrators to get the maximum return on investment from expensive hardware purchases, such as flash and SSD. This assures that only applications and databases that require powerful computing are ever stored on them, while less frequently used, non-critical data is sent to less costly and lower performing equipment or even cloud-based options.

"By remaining selective on who is allowed to join our premier partner program, we can ensure that companies deploying SANsymphony-V are receiving the guidance and support necessary to make the most of their existing hardware investments and realize the maximum value that software-defined storage has to offer," said Devin Schiffman, director of partner sales, Americas for DataCore Software. "Planet Technologies understands that each customer has unique business goals that must be taken into account before pursuing any major IT project that will have long-lasting effects on how the company operates. This approach allows them to truly get the most out of their virtualized storage environments, leading to increased efficiency and freedom of choice when making future hardware purchases."

DataCore Software's Premier Partner Program enables IT consultants and solution providers to answer growing market demand for more cost-effective storage, such as the implementation of flash and SSDs into tiered storage networks alongside conventional disk systems to significantly improve application and virtualized workload performance, as well as making it easy to do migrations to the benefits of software-defined storage. DataCore's recently enhanced, award-winning program builds on appealing characteristics which over the years have continually earned the company accolades in the reseller community. This includes channel-only sales that eliminate direct sales conflict, conscious regard for regional coverage by authorized partners in order to avoid over-distribution, and a customized on-boarding program to help rapidly close new business within the partner's current client population.

To learn more about the DataCore Premier Partner Program please visit: http://www.datacore.com/Partners/Become-a-Partner/amer-program.aspx or email PremierPartner@DataCore.com or call 877-780-5111.