SGI, GTSI join forces

Under the partnership, SGI and its resellers will access GTSI’s contract vehicles and relationships with government agencies.

Silicon Graphics Inc. and GTSI inked an alliance in which the companies will seek to broaden the market for 64-bit Linux solutions.

Under the partnership, SGI and its resellers will access GTSI’s contract vehicles and relationships with government agencies. For its part, GTSI gains a solution set for applications such as high-performance computing and data visualization. The alliance builds on the companies’ reseller arrangement, which goes back several years.

“GTSI has exceptional reach,” said Alison Ryan, senior director of business development and channel sales at SGI Federal. GTSI can help SGI push high-performance computing solutions beyond the company’s traditional customer base, which includes the Defense Department, NASA and Energy Department labs, she said. Ryan cited a huge opportunity emerging as Linux becomes an adopted standard.

GTSI will act as a direct reseller for SGI and as a master reseller supporting SGI’s resellers. GTSI provides SGI resellers with access to contracts that they otherwise wouldn’t have. Ryan said. She identified GTSI’s General Services Administration schedule and US Communities contract as two vehicles that are important to the alliance.

The company offers homeland security solutions to state and local governments though the US Communities program.

A GTSI spokeswoman said applications the companies may pursue include urban security planning and emergency services; border security and port security solutions; command, control, surveillance and reconnaissance; scientific and visual high-performance computing; weather and climate forecasting; and virtual crime scene re-creation and investigation support.