OCF, the UK's premier High Performance Computing (HPC) system integrator, high performance storage integrator and cloud service provider, appoints ex ScaleMP, SGI and Fujitsu employee Keith Vickers to its business development team. Keith will help organisations to quickly identify, qualify, understand and spec' their compute power and storage requirements using his proven, expert pre-sales, technical support. Keith will support organisations competing in performance engineering (F1 teams and motor sports), manufacturing, aerospace, government and defence markets.

Keith joins OCF from ScaleMP, where he was HPC business development manager and from SGI, where he was head of pre-sales, Northern Europe. Keith has also been business development manager, Alliances at Fujitsu Technology Solutions International and technical consultant at Amdahl. Keith is the second SGI employee to join OCF recently, following the appointment of Georgina Ellis as sales executive in September 2009.

"HPC systems, high performance storage and the cloud are all high-growth areas and to ensure customers get the right technology and ultimately the correct solution requires comprehensive pre-sales support," says Julian Fielden, managing director of OCF plc. "We have chosen Keith because of his proven expertise gained at the highest level and believe he will be a valuable asset for us and our customers."

Keith Vickers, business development manager of OCF plc, says: "OCF is in a great position to support the compute power and storage requirements of organisations in the UK. Firstly, it has a full portfolio of solutions and services -- including its new cloud service; second, it has a good reputation for support; third, in IBM, it has a strong relationship with a trusted HPC technology leader; and finally, it always provides value for money. I will work directly with customers to help them qualify their compute power and data storage requirements and recommend appropriate solutions."

OCF recently launched its cloud computing service -- R.A.C.E (Remote Access Compute Engine). Already in use by Lola Cars, the UK's largest and most successful racing car constructor, R.A.C.E is available to businesses of any size and:

• Acts as an overflow service for businesses to meet a temporary requirement for more processing cores.
• Enables individual design consultants and small-to-medium design businesses to pitch for larger design projects than would otherwise be possible with their current IT infrastructure.
• Serves as a courtesy service for customers whilst they wait for tenders to complete or a new HPC system to arrive.
• Acts as a direct hardware replacement by businesses in order to reduce their capital expenditure.