the prospects for this company compare to that of EMC, VRTS, MCDT, BRCD..the other storage companies.
t2, let me get out my crystal ball (wait! cb is hanging around here!)
My best guess: EMC has a tremendous installed base of very large users. EMC will prosper, especially as it develops new products. The TCO of Symmetrix is problematic, but Symmetrix will evolve. Even if it doesn't, the product is similar to IBM mainframes as its niche is important and has a built in organic growth. EMC still has not delivered the answer to the mid-tier market, and that is their achilles heel.
NTAP will continue to grow at a rate faster than EMC, as it has the products for the mid-tier and has the far superior product set for the content management & distribution niche. Its unique set of proprietary/open software platforms will be hard for anyone to slow down. The delivery of DAFS/VI will stave off such wannabe's as BlueArc and give EMC problems for years to come. You can bet that the think tank at NTAP has some ideas for a third wave as well. The clustering of filers around the DAFS/VI network infrastructure will provide a whole new level of scalability and content delivery architectures and software.
VRTS will succeed in synch with MSFT W2K, especially W2K data center. VRTS is built into W2K (all flavors) and gives them an unique position to add new storage mgt and backup solutions to the large W2K data centers of the near future.
BRCD will prosper as the continue to set the standards for storage switching. MCDT will do well if they can keep up with BRCD.
BRCD and MCDT are not competitors to EMC and NTAP. To one degree or another they are a part of the EMC/NTAP value chains, especially BRCD.
Here is my ranking of these companies as seen from a technology and marketing point of view.
1. NTAP
2. BRCD
3. EMC
4. MCDT
I put little credibilty in the storage efforts of CPQ and Dell, though they will do well for at least a couple of years as the storage market matures and NTAP and EMC expand their marketing presence.
That's my best guess, and it is only a guess. |
