VMware is in an enviable but tricky situation: The company must work closely with hardware partners, keeping these prime sales and promotional channels happy and supportive. But VMware must also innovate around proprietary OEMs, subverting their products with integrated software before a rival steps up with an integrated alternative. This two-prong "coopetition" strategy has … [Read more...] about VMware’s Hardware Partner Strategy: Heads I Win, Tales You Lose
convergence
How Will Cisco Recover From The Consumer Strategy Blunder?
Cisco made a massive strategic blunder in the last decade, aggressively moving into consumer devices rather than focusing on their core enterprise and service provider markets. It seems that Cisco is now in the process of rectifying this mistake, but charting a path to growth is an entirely different matter! Cisco's Consumer Blunder Cisco is not HP, Dell, or IBM. Cisco is … [Read more...] about How Will Cisco Recover From The Consumer Strategy Blunder?
Scale Computing HC3 – Converged Infrastructure For Everybody!
"Convergence" is a hot topic today but, like so many buzzwords, the term takes on many different meanings. But let's consider converged infrastructure for a moment - systems that seamlessly combine server and storage. A variety of offerings can be called "converged", from "stacks" of equipment curated by major vendors and resellers to integrated boxes with everything inside. … [Read more...] about Scale Computing HC3 – Converged Infrastructure For Everybody!
FCoE vs. iSCSI – Making the Choice
My presentation at Interop in Las Vegas on May 11, 2011, focused on the protocols that will underpin converged storage networking in the future. My topic, assigned by network computing editor Mike Fratto, was “FCoE vs. iSCSI - Making the Choice.” Although this sounds like a grand competition between the two protocols, my take on the subject is very far from that idea. Rather … [Read more...] about FCoE vs. iSCSI – Making the Choice
Changes in Technology Drive Changes in IT Organizations and Roles
Lots of my IT infrastructure management clients are talking about how the advent of Ethernet/IP and virtualization is changing the roles of storage, server, and network administrators. The evolution of the storage role in particular in enterprise IT organizations has been a topic of particular interest to me for a while: I definitely remember thinking about this as iSCSI and … [Read more...] about Changes in Technology Drive Changes in IT Organizations and Roles