The Data Center War Is On, Should We Care?

December 15, 2008 on 10:34 am | By Peder | In Main | 1 Comment

When I think of the big battles for market share in technology, what comes to mind is Microsoft versus Apple, IBM versus HP, and Intel versus AMD.  We have watched these come and go and be drawn out to move the marketing messages and market share needles.  But many of these are very much like title fights where two giants are fighting in their weight class against the expected contenders in a controlled arrangement.  Once in a while we see new players enter the market who want to take on the establishment in new and different ways similar to Skype taking on the long distance industry.  Rarely, however, do we get to see two dominant forces in adjacent and often complementary markets turn their focus on one another.  Enter the new Internet data center and how 12 months can dramatically change the landscape.  Networking incumbent Cisco is leading the charge expanding ownership of the data center by targeting the bread and butter of its partners, IBM and HP.  Likewise, IBM and HP have seen the opportunity to help drive revenue and efficiency in telecom sector by driving servers further into the network core.  So is this a good thing and should we care?

Cisco Nexus

http://gigaom.com/2008/03/21/coming-soon-the-cisco-blade-server/

http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/ps9402/index.html

IBM Bluehouse targets Webex:

http://blogs.zdnet.com/BTL/?p=10296

https://bluehouse.lotus.com/front/webfront