Dot Hill Strengthens Commitment to Key Channel Partners with New Partner Program Benefits

LONGMONT, Colo., Nov. 8, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Dot Hill Systems Corp. (NASDAQ: HILL), a leading provider of SAN storage solutions and unified virtual storage, today announced significant enhancements to its Connections Partner Program, offering improved collaboration, new lead generation resources, and expanded revenue opportunities for those partners who have demonstrated their dedication to doing business with Dot Hill.

Dot Hill's Connections Partner Program advancements primarily focus on adding field resources, value-add programs and solutions based sales tools to the most committed partners and rewarding those partners that have demonstrated their loyalty; these partners have access to additional privileges such as amplified professional service offerings, demand-generation toolkits, marketing support and increased margin incentives. Alongside these additions are changes designed to make it easier for all partners to do business with Dot Hill such as streamlined channel pricing, as well as improved access to technical support and services.

At the helm of the new channel partner program is Brad Painter, a 24-year channel IT veteran, who joined the company in July 2011 from Pillar Data Systems where he served as vice president of worldwide channel sales. "Fortifying its channel commitment, Dot Hill's partner program is more focused than ever on building strong, mutually beneficial partnerships with its authorized partners, initially in North America," said Painter. "While the Connections Partner Program is open to all storage partners and offers attractive margins and deal registrations, we plan to work more closely with focused partners to drive incremental and profitable sales growth. We believe partners will welcome our emphasis on partner profitability, collaboration and synergy."

"We are very impressed with the award-winning storage technology Dot Hill offers, backed by a rich patent portfolio. Couple that with key advancements to their partner program and it was an easy decision to partner. The new Connections Partner Program is truly focused on helping us be more profitable by bringing value to our sales process with support for our marketing initiatives, real collaboration and closing tools," said Jim Steinlage, president of Choice Solutions.

"We are pleased to establish a relationship with Dot Hill Systems," stated John Bettenburg, vice president of North American Systems International. "Dot Hill is making sizable investments and increasing their commitment by adding inside sales resources and lead generation programs to develop new business in the midrange and enterprise computing markets where we excel in delivering best in class solutions and service."

Dot Hill Connections partners deliver storage solutions for a variety of applications and vertical markets including virtualization, media and entertainment, education, defense, government and oil & gas. Connections partners are backed by Dot Hill's dedicated customer services and sales organization. In 2011 the Dot Hill Connections Partner Program was named to CRN's 5-Star Partner Programs Guide for the second consecutive year. In addition Dot Hill earned a spot on Everything Channel's CRN Virtualization 100 list, which highlights the most compelling virtualization solutions and vendors delivering best-in-class products to meet the growing needs of the channel.

For more information about the Dot Hill Connections Partner Program, visit us at partners.dothill.com.

About Dot Hill

Leveraging its proprietary Assured family of storage solutions, Dot Hill solves many of today's most challenging storage problems – helping IT to improve performance, increase availability, simplify operations, and reduce costs. Dot Hill's solutions combine breakthrough virtualization software with the industry's most flexible and extensive hardware platform and automated management to deliver best-in-class unified virtual storage and SAN solutions. Headquartered in Longmont, Colo., Dot Hill has offices and/or representatives in China, Germany, India, Israel, Japan, Singapore, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

For more information, visit us at www.dothill.com.

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Certain statements contained in this press release regarding matters that are not historical fact are "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act. Because such statements are subject to risks and uncertainties, actual results may differ materially from those expressed or implied by the statements. Forward-looking statements include statements regarding: any improvement in Dot Hill's financial results due to changes in its Partner Program or hiring of Brad Painter; the effectiveness of the Program and any of its features; and the benefits or performance of any Dot Hill product in any particular environment. The risks that contribute to the uncertain nature of the forward-looking statements include: the fact that the improvements to the Program are new and therefore not tested; the fact that Brad Painter's relationship with Dot Hill may be terminated at any time, with or without cause; changing customer and partner preferences in the open systems computing market; and unforeseen supply, technological, intellectual property or engineering issues. However, there are many other risks not listed here that may affect the future business of Dot Hill, as well as the forward-looking statements contained herein. To learn about such risks and uncertainties, you should read the risk factors set forth in the company's public filings with the SEC, including the Forms 8-K, 10-K and 10-Q most recently filed by Dot Hill. All forward-looking statements contained in this press release speak only as of the date on which they were made. Dot Hill undertakes no obligation to update such statements to reflect any change in circumstances or events.  Also, CRN and Dot Hill are independent entities, and Dot Hill has no control over, and takes no responsibility or liability with respect to, predictions or statements made by CRN.  

Contact:
Steve Sturgeon
Lutz PR
858-472-5669
[email protected]

Company Contact:
Ruth MacDonald
Marketing Communications Manager
303-845-3364
[email protected]

SOURCE Dot Hill Systems Corp.