Duncan,
NTAP, when given the opportunity to compete with Clariion, usually wins on price, performance, reliability, and support.
The problem has been that Clariion has heretofore been branded by a reseller, such as HP, as their own product. So when a customer buys a new HP server, the "HP SAN" subsystem is easy to buy, so no competitive situation ever arises.
Clariion is a poor performer. I can't prove this, nor can they prove that their solution is a good performer, because DGN apparently does not participate in the performance benchmarks sponsored by the independant SPECSFS group. Here is a list of performance results to prove that point:
specbench.org
Nor was there any record of their participation in the older SPECSFS93 benchmark tests.
Whether EMC can succeed with DGN depends on the following:
1. Ability to execute direct sales of Clariion product. There is little or no DGN direct sales force for Clariion. Their business model was through OEMs and VARs. Can EMC get its sales force to sell "downmarket".
2. Ability to move to NAS. There is no evidence that Clariion had/has any NAS architecture in the works. Perhaps EMC intends to tackle this midrange market with SAN architecture. That has significant cost/performance implications in their competitors' favor.
3. Corporate focus. There is a danger that the absorption of DGN with all of its corporate culture and unrelated products (Aviion) will tax EMC's ability to focus on its core competencies. EMC has very good management, so there is a good chance this will not be a problem.
4. Response by competitors. NTAP already understands Clariion, and, I can assure you, NTAP's sales force is loaded (and shooting) for bear. This is EMC moving into NTAP's domain, not the other way around, so EMC will have its hands full. And remember that NTAP has Dell out there selling PowerVault to the low-end NT server market.
I wish I could be more precise, but that is my opinion at this point. |
