Expands distribution network in South African enabling more public and private sector organisations to benefit from greener, more secure & affordable desktop virtualization and cloud computing

London, UK –  28/10/2010 – Wyse Technology, the global leader in cloud client computing, today announced additional success in its growth strategy across Africa and the appointment of a new distributor to meet demand in South African markets.

The latest phase in its plans for the continent builds on the substantial success Wyse has enjoyed in working with African governments and businesses implementing desktop virtualization and cloud computing to benefit citizens, workers, and students with greener and more secure IT infrastructure that is also easier to support and has a significantly lower total cost of ownership.

One of the many successful deployments of Wyse solutions in Africa includes a major ongoing project to provide South African schools with state-of-the-art access to the latest software and internet content using Wyse cloud software and reliable, green and secure Wyse cloud PCs.  Over 70,000 Wyse cloud PCs are already implemented with more expected in the race to provide 2.5 million students with access to a computer laboratory by 2013.  Wyse previously announced focused products addressing the infrastructure issues faced by some citizens, such as products than can run on batteries and survive disruptions in power availability.

“In the education space, ten of the top 15 universities worldwide already use Wyse to better equip students, so it’s no surprise that South African schools are implementing Wyse advanced desktop virtualization, benefitting in ways that will affect generations to come,” said Maryam Alexandrian, svp worldwide sales for Wyse. “Our objective is to deliver this enhanced learning to millions of children in the next five years, and we’re expanding our product line and local presence to deliver on that objective.”

Wyse also announced expansion of its distribution network in Africa with the signing of Pinnacle Africa, a prominent South African distributor of advanced IT and communications equipment. This new partnership will enable both companies to address the nearly five-fold increase in demand for Wyse products forecasted by prominent analysts, and addresses local demand for cloud client computing and virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) solutions in private and public sectors across the region.

As one of South Africa’s largest distributors, Pinnacle has the infrastructure and resources to support resellers’ deploying IT solutions based on Wyse cloud client computing.  To complement Wyse’s investment in local infrastructure, Pinnacle has formed a dedicated team of experts in cloud client computing technology. They will assist local resellers in tailoring Wyse products to meet clients’ thin and zero client computing, cloud computing, unified communications, and virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) requirements.

“Enthusiasm for cloud client computing is incredibly strong here so we’re extremely excited about how we can join forces with local experts and accelerate our plans for growth in Southern Africa,” said Mark Jordan, vice president EMEA for Wyse. “Pinnacle shares our vision with a service organization that understands our technology in-depth and the distribution capability to deliver first class service to the channel and our African customers.”

Trevor van Zyl, chief operating officer, Pinnacle Africa added: “Cloud client computing has a strong appeal for South African enterprises and public sector organizations. There is strong demand for high quality ICT infrastructure that delivers high quality services to the desktop while being much more  flexible, robust and energy efficient than traditional alternatives. Through this new relationship with Wyse, we can bring to bear our in-house expertise in building hardware infrastructure for virtualized solutions at the desktop, as well as  our capacity to support the most ambitious and complex implementations.”

Wyse entered the African market in 1990 and its customers include a wide range of public and private sector organizations.