US tech firm angles for slice of East Africa market

An American IT firm EMC Corporation has partnered with a local technology seller Virtual Works to ease the sale of its products. The Nairobi based Virtual Works said the partnerships with EMC Corporation will see it distribute products for the US data storage and hardware solutions maker in the East African region.

The EMC Business Partner Program simplifies use of social, mobile, cloud and Big Data to monitor business trends. “Having committed a significant amount of time in both training and accreditation, we are pleased to welcome Virtual Works into the Business Partner Program,” said EMC Channel and Alliances Director, Turkey, Eastern Europe, Africa and Middle East Havier Haddad.

Virtual Works says it will expand to Burundi, DR Congo and Southern Sudan following the partnership. This is as it looks to expand its footprint in the region.

The local IT firm has the presence in Uganda, Tanzania and Rwanda but it also acts as the distributor of EMC products in Southern Africa. “Currently we have a footprint in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania and Rwanda, we would be expanding shortly to Burundi, DR Congo and Southern Sudan,” said Virtual Works Chief Executive Officer Abraham Parel in an interview.

“We seek to offer more than what traditional IT distributors give, so we will generate leads and had hold our partners closure.” Mr Parel did not however indicate the timeline or the capital to be injected in the expansion. The pact signals the investor’s growing appetite for Kenya as Africa’s IT hub, with global firms either setting up base in Nairobi or partnering with local firms to tap into regional and continental market.

Parel said Virtual Works would leverage on the EMC Corporation partnership to expand and position itself as a niche player in the enterprise IT space - with emphasis on data storage.

“EMC is among the world’s most successful and innovative storage and data management companies and will be ideal for us in delivering high quality products for our enterprise customers,” Parel said.

Virtual Works has worked with resellers in telecommunications, financial, manufacturing, commercial and government sectors in Namibia, Mozambique, Zambia, Malawi and Mauritius. “Virtual Works has been an EMC distributor in Southern Africa for about two years now and we have extended the distributorship to East Africa since we have presence in the area and market knowledge."