What a week it’s been for the data centre. Cisco is making a splash with its unified computing strategy, while rumour has it IBM is negotiating to buy Sun for US$6.5 billion. For the channel, this news could be unsettling, or it could be exciting, depending on your viewpoint. Whatever the case, we’re starting to see a shake-up in the data centre market.
Cisco, in a long-anticipated move, has announced the roadmap for its Unified Computing System, its “next-generation data centre” that brings together compute power, storage access and networking capabilities, allowing users to access information from any device, on any network, at any time.
But, for now, don’t bother calling Ingram Micro or Tech Data. If you’re interested in selling Cisco’s UCS – which will combine networking with virtualization and blade servers – you’ll have to talk to Cisco directly.
In a way, it’s odd, because Tech Data has a new Cisco Solutions Group in the U.S. (part of its Advanced Infrastructure Solutions Division), which supports Cisco VARs, including those selling into the data centre. Both Tech Data and Ingram offer a range of data centre products. So it would make sense to push this new strategy out through the channel.
But Cisco has been known to approach emerging technologies with caution, waiting until it gains traction before entering two-tier distribution. The networking vendor plans to start out with a group of 30 to 50 specialized data centre partners before expanding its channel reach – so we’ll have to wait and see.
Then there’s talk of IBM acquiring Sun. While initially my jaw dropped at this bit of news, really, it all comes back to the data centre. Virtualization and Cisco’s UCS are leading to the consolidation of data centre technologies. And acquiring Sun could give IBM the boost of innovation it needs in the server and storage markets.
Sun has had its share of ups and downs in the IT market, but it currently has one of the fastest-growing x86 server businesses (where HP has established a stronghold). It’s also strong in blade servers (where HP leads the market). Then there’s Sun’s Xen-based server virtualization and virtual PC technologies – expected to grow leaps and bounds in the coming years – and its strength in open source and cloud computing. Not such a bad deal for US$6.5 billion.
That means IBM, HP and Cisco will be left duking it out for the data centre. That could open up new opportunities for partners – similar to what happened with IP telephony a few years back. But distributors should be part of this, since they can help resellers find the right fit for their customers.
