Bear Data Expected To Drive Growth

Paul Lidsky, Datalink president and CEO, said during the analyst presentation that his company would have hit guidance without the Bear Data acquisition, but that the acquisition is an important component for future growth.

"Bear's lower-margin network sales will be compensated over the long term by the sales of higher-margin products and services to Bear customers," he said.

With the Bear Data acquisition, Cisco has become Datalink's top vendor partner, displacing long-term storage vendor NetApp, Lidsky said. Symantec is the company's third-largest vendor partner. "This is part of our strategy of being a total solution provider beyond the data center," he said.