A Technical Issue

By John Longwell, CRN
January 29, 2007 12:00 AM ET

Welcome to the premier issue of CRNtech, a monthly edition of CRN dedicated to covering innovative products and technologies.

JOHN LONGWELL
Can be reached via e-mail at jlongwel@cmp.com.

Alerting solution providers to emerging technologies has always been part of CRN's mission—and the news team will continue to do so in its daily online coverage and on a weekly basis in print. But CRNtech will go deeper. CRNtech is not just about expanded technology coverage. It is about demystifying products from the unique perspective of the channel that assesses, configures, installs, maintains and builds custom solutions. It is about addressing the information needs of technical managers making product-adoption decisions. And it is about providing a forum for solution providers to voice their opinions and hear what their peers have to say about products, technologies and services.

Our "Deep Dive" reviews from the CRN Test Center, while following a traditional first-look review format, include assessments of vendor support and profit potential. In the future, some of our reviews will be penned by solution providers, who we are recruiting for their expertise and perspective.

Our cover story on SAN solutions in the small-business market represents a similar marriage: a discussion of the technology and an assessment of the services opportunity. What did we find? Solution providers concur that SAN technology is maturing, becoming less costly and generating a lot of service opportunities. But are small businesses ready for SAN solutions? To answer that question, we polled readers to ask where they would put SANs on the familiar technology adoption curve. The responses were insightful. A few place SANs in late majority and even laggard adoption phase, undoubtedly taking the position that any enterprise not yet on board is well behind the times. But nearly 40 percent put SANs in the "early majority adoption" phase, a clear indication they see the market broadening into a prime-time SMB play.

Are small businesses ready for SANs? CRNtech is your forum for discussing technology. We'd like to hear from you. E-mail CRNtech Executive Editor John Longwell at jlongwel@cmp.com.

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