Buffalo Tech Builds its Brand
While U.S.-based IT companies seek to establish a foothold in Asia, Buffalo Technology is moving in the opposite direction.
“Our roots are in Japan and 80 percent of our business is still done overseas,” says Erny-Jay Mezas, director of sales at the networking, storage and wireless specialist. “We launched a successful VAR program in the U.S. last year and the opportunities are huge for us.”
The VAR Guy wonders: Is there room for yet another storage and networking company in the SMB sector? Apparently yes. Various research firms say Buffalo ranks at the top of the network attached storage market for SMBs. And strong relationships with Ingram, Tech Data and D&H should help to drive further demand. Mezas spent nine years at Tech Data, so he believes he understands how to strengthen Buffalo’s channel.
“We’ve got to continue to take our innovative R&D and localize it for the U.S. market,” he says. Buffalo has also managed to get on Intel’s radar, recently joining the chip giant’s Connect with Centrino program–which aims to ensure interoperability between next-generation 802.11n WiFi products.
Still, competition lurks around every corner. Other SMB networking companies such as D-Link continue to push successfully into the storage sector as well.