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And as storage technologies themselves become more diverse, and user requirements more demanding, that relationship can be strained to breaking point - which matters a great deal to the user at the end of the 'food chain'!

NCE's John Greenwood, with almost 20 years experience of the channel in IT, says customers are actively seeking out partners who can add real value: "The online search engines and opportunists who know how to exploit this mechanism have confused more than helped the customer, with the vendor or product that comes top of the list not always the best fit for what they need. This is where consultancy and engagement with an impartial ally provides huge value."

Andy Hill of Nexsan summarises the issues - and the preferred solution - thus: "Storage suppliers can still win big in the channel, but only if they are willing to truly commit to a channel strategy and make strategic investments in their partners. It starts with clearly defining their direct vs. channel sales strategy - and honouring it 100%." Words like honour, trust and professionalism feature heavily in our feature, as an industry that has perhaps suffered more than many in the past from a lack of all these things re-balances itself for a future in which only the "partner-oriented" will prosper. As ever, we'd be interested in your views: feel free to email me at the address below with your thoughts.

Elsewhere, following on from our last issue, where we discussed the merits of 'layering data' like a shingle roof, we take a close look at another emerging storage technology, nanolithography, which claims to enable a potential doubling of HDD density limits. "The emerging techniques of self-assembling molecules and nanoimprinting will have an enormous impact on nanoscale manufacturing," commented Currie Munce of HGST Research, one of the firms involved in the developments, "Enabling bit-patterned media to become a cost-effective means of increasing data densities in magnetic hard disk drives before the end of the decade."

Meanwhile, preparations continue apace for the tenth - and biggest yet! - Storage Awards ceremony, the 'Storries X'. We feature a full list of all the finalists on page 28, so please make sure you take the time to vote for your favourites at www.storage-awards.com.

David Tyler
david.tyler@btc.co.uk