Company: Arista Networks
Headquarters: Menlo Park, Calif.
Technology Sector: Networking
Key Product: 7100 Series 10-Gigabit Ethernet Switches
Year Founded: 2004
Number of Channel Partners: 200 worldwide
Ideal Channel Partner: Enterprise-focused solution provider
Why You Should Care: Take notice of Arista Networks now or you'll be wishing you did. The company makes 10-Gigabit Ethernet switches at almost a Gigabit price-point, just in time for the massive data center networking refresh that's set to begin.
The Lowdown: Arista Networks knows the 10-Gigabit Ethernet revolution is coming, and it wants the channel to get in on the action before its nothing more than a flash in the rearview mirror.
According to Dell'Oro Group, 10-Gigabit is the fastest growing segment of the Ethernet market, growing 41 percent year over year from 2007 to 2008 and representing a $2.4 billion market in 2008. And that growth is going to continue.
"It's a huge growth opportunity," said Mark Foss, Arista's director of global channels.
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| Arista 7100 Series |
Additionally, as companies investigate virtualization, a bigger 10-Gigabit pipe will be just what the doctor ordered.
"The transition from 1-Gigabit to 10-Gigabit is a multi-billion dollar refresh cycle," Foss said. "There's a lot of money to be made."
For data center-focused solution providers who sign on with Arista, that money won't be hard to come by. Arista makes 10-Gigabit Ethernet switches that the company promises are top-notch performers at an aggressive price point. For example, Arista's 7100 series of switches delivers wirespeed 10-Gigabit Ethernet on all ports and features customizable software that lets users add extensible services to the switches, meaning users can tweak the switch to customize them to their environment.
The 7100 series of data center Ethernet switches spans five different models ranging from 24 to 48 ports. The switches unlock 10-Gigabit Ethernet everywhere in the data center, boosting server utilization and data center power efficiency.
As Arista continues to hammer home the 10-Gigabit Ethernet story, Foss said it's also trying to broaden the reach of the channel. Right now, Arista takes a value-added distributor (VAD) approach, teaming with Ingram Micro in the U.S. and a host of other VADs across Europe, the Middle East, China, Japan and elsewhere.
Arista also gives partners an edge by barring online sales of its gear that dip below list price to avoid unnecessary competition for VARs.
Arista knows it faces stiff competition in the 10-Gigabit Ethernet space, where its biggest rival is Cisco Systems. But Arista has a secret weapon: its executive team. Arista's CEO, Jayshree Ullal came over from Cisco, where she headed up its data center initiative. And founder and Chief Development Officer Andy Bechtolsheim was a founder and chief system architect at Sun Microsystems.
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