Sending Out An SOS

At the client level, more and more organizations are postponing new system purchases in favor of hiring solution providers to upgrade existing systems by adding more memory and storage. At the server level, the emphasis is increasingly turning to software that will help optimize storage investments.

In response to the current economic malaise, when IT organizations do feel compelled to add storage, they are opting for larger disks as part of an overall centralization strategy, rather than a larger number of smaller, less expensive disks. As part of this effort, they are also paying more attention to software that helps optimize their storage assets. The hard truth is that just about every IT organization isn't using its storage assets efficiently.

In good times, when money flowed freely, people threw dollars at storage. Today, they want a dedicated storage strategy that maximizes their investments. This shift has hurt companies such as EMC and IBM, which are perceived as being purveyors of products that always seem to encourage customers to buy a maximum amount of storage. As a result, companies such as Hitachi Data Systems, Sun Microsystems, StorageTek and Iomega are getting more opportunities to compete, and these companies are responding with an increased focus on channel partners.

In contrast, EMC, as noted in this week's cover story, has embraced Dell Computer at the expense of its channel. IBM is distracted with yet another reorganization that makes its storage group subordinate to its server group. And Hewlett-Packard's storage strategy has been lost amid all the debate over how much of its overall business should be direct or indirect.

The end result of all this is an opportunity for solution providers to focus on storage optimization. At this point, none of the storage vendors have the complete trust of any of their customers, and where there is a lack of trust, there is always opportunity for the channel.

Are you listening? Do you agree? I can be reached at (650) 513-4227 or via e-mail at [email protected].