Cray Research Superservers Inc, manufacturer of high-end Sparc-based servers – this year chose Comtek for its first showing in Russia. Until this year Cray Research was effectively prevented from selling any equipment in Russia by high technology trade restrictions. CoCom, the body co-ordinating these export controls, was dissolved on March 31, opening the way for Cray to make a start in Russia. Cray Research Superservers is allied with Sun Microsystems Inc and Sun will be the principal vendor in Russia. At Comtek, Cray came to agreements with Sun value-added resellers Jet Infosystems and LVS Systems. President of Jet Infosystems Eugene Shablygin says although demand for the company’s products will not be huge, within six to nine months he is confident that he will be selling Cray machines to larger banks and financial institutions. The cycle repeats itself every year with more powerful families of computers, says Shablygin. Cray regional director Uwe Wagner says his company will open an office when it has its first Russian installation.
