Cisco Teaming With EMC: Another Sign Of The Times
Changes in the way that computer equipment is sold are poised to create tumultuous market changes. HP's purchase of 3Com last week is only one indication of the shake-ups now in progress. Another leading indicator is that earlier this month Cisco teamed up with EMC in a joint venture designed to provide next-generation data center products.
Traditionally, the markets for computer, network, and storage systems have been autonomous. Recently, the way that these products have been packaged has begun a major push toward integrated systems that perform all of those functions. In response, Cisco and EMC have forged a far-reaching joint-development agreement.
On The Vblock
The two companies, along with VMWare, are working on a series of products, dubbed Vblock Infrastructure Packages, which are scheduled to become available in the coming months. In essence, the companies will deliver turnkey systems, consisting of computing, management, networking, storage, security, and virtualization capabilities from their various product lines.
Initially, there will be three Vblock solutions, two of which may interest small and midsize businesses. Vblock 0 will be an entry-level configuration, supporting 300 to 800 Virtual Machines (VMs) and aimed at midsize businesses and small data centers. Vblock 0 is comprised of Cisco's UCS and Nexus 1000v, EMC's Unified Storage, and the VMware vSphere platform. Vblock 1 is a midsize configuration supporting 800 to 3,000 VMs. It is based on Cisco's UCS, Nexus 1000v and MDS, EMC's CLARiiON storage system, and the VMware vSphere platform. The last product, Vblock 2, is targeted at large enterprises and service providers.
Cisco and EMC are now tied together in a couple of ways. They have set up the Virtual Computing Environment, a coalition whose goal is to deliver and support the new integrated computing products. Systems integrators Accenture, Capgemini, CSC, Lockheed Martin, Tata Consulting Services, and Wipro have signed up to help push the products. Service providers Savvis, Orange, SunGard and Terremark are on board. Channel partners include Bell Canada, CDW, Presidio, World Wide Technology, Dimension Data, and Verizon Services, among others.
Acadia Offers Training
In addition, Cisco and EMC formed a joint venture, called Acadia, to train customers and partners on how to install and use the new products. The startup will have a staff of about 130. Cisco and EMC are supplying most of the funding, but Intel and VMware are also minority investors.
The relationship between Cisco and EMC has become quite cozy. In fact, analysts have speculated that Cisco may eventually acquire EMC, a rumor that gained momentum with the latest moves -- not to mention the Cisco/3Com deal.
Watch Out For The Ripples
The two companies may see themselves as long-term partners, and their joint development work will have a ripple effect throughout the industry. That's because the two vendors also have existing OEM and reselling relationships with many companies, including Dell, HP, and IBM. And all of those companies are also trying to expand their product lines and deliver integrated systems. The future of these inter-related agreements -- along with their associated products -- is now in jeopardy.
On the sidelines stand various niche players, such as Brocade, Extreme Networks, and Motorola. (Before last week, you could have put 3Com in that group, as well.) As the market shifts and their areas of expertise are being usurped, questions have arisen about these companies' long term viability. Some, like Brocade, have tried to team up with larger companies, so they won't eventually be swept into oblivion as the market shifts. And that's no doubt why 3Com was so eager to jump into HP's embrace.
The result is a great deal of chaos in the data center market. Chaos that could have a negative impact on small and midsize businesses. Because SMBs can not know how the market will shake out in the coming years, it has now become more difficult for them to be confident about their long-term planning. Many SMBs are justifiably afraid of investing heavily in products that may eventually be dead ended when their primary supplier(s) move in different directions as the market matures.
Consequently, it has now become imperative for SMBs to start thinking about a fallback plan if their primary vendor withdraws support for one or more of their key products somewhere down the line.
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See more columns by Paul Korzeniowski.
Paul Korzeniowski is a Sudbury, Mass.-based freelance writer who has been writing about networking issues for two decades. His work has appeared in Business 2.0, Entrepreneur, Investor's Business Daily, Newsweek, and InformationWeek.
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