Engage The Enterprise

On the other hand, the past year has seen a wave of technical innovation in the enterprise that is leading to there-invention of the data center, which will be the main focus of a panel discussion that CRN will host this week during Comdex. Among those innovations are:

1. The arrival of one-way and two-way Intel-based server blades as the new workhorse computing engine in the data center.

2. The ascension of network-based storage as a primary focal point of data-center architecture.

3. A general realization that virtual computing tools enable IT organizations to separate data and data management from application containers.

4. The continued adoption of industry-standard integration protocols based on XML Web services.

5. And, more recently, the emergence of composite applications that pull data from multiple applications to create new and compelling value through business-process integration.

Most CIOs in the Global 2000 are only cautiously optimistic about IT spending and the economy in general.

As the spending environment improves, however, solution providers will need all the education and ROI analysis they can get. These tools will back their arguments motivating potential customers to get the most business value they can by investing in a new class of technologies for the enterprise.

That's where distributors that specialize in enterprise computing solutions, such as Avnet, Arrow Electronics, GE Access and Agilysys, need to make a difference, starting today. If they don't, it's more than likely that the turnaround for IT spending in the enterprise is going to trail the rest of the economic rebound by 12 months or more. And if that happens, then people are going to seriously question what adding value really means.

Are enterprises ready to re-engage? I can be reached at (516) 562-7477 or via e-mail at [email protected].