Atio Corp. and Nortel Networks last week signed a partnership agreement, which will give Atio access to a much wider portfolio of end-to-end communications product, the company says.

According to Chris van der Sande, Atio CEO, the company has gained a lot of strength in the contact center market particularly, and the partnership with Nortel will allow the company to provide a wider portfolio of technologies ?across the Limpopo?.

This partnership is expected to give Nortel a channel into sub-Saharan Africa, as Atio operates in SA, Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe and Nigeria. Currently, Atio is a reseller of Interactive Intelligence product.

?Not all products fit the needs of our clients,? adds Van der Sande, ?and Atio is not a company that will enter into exclusive reseller agreements with one or two vendors. But this partnership with Nortel will help us to diversify our product portfolio.?

According to Atio marketing director, Nicholas Maweni, convergence is changing the way in which networks are built and the way in which people do business. ?Nortel?s R&D gives Atio access to the right technologies used in both the enterprise and service provider arenas,? he says.

Nortel SA is said to be at an inflection point, focused on improving the way that it does business with clients in SA. According to Logan Pather, Nortel SA MD, this partnering with Atio is in line with the networking vendor?s new strategy to increase technology partnerships with carefully selected partners.