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Technology Stocks : Compaq -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: hlpinout who wrote (88842)	1/12/2001 7:06:14 PM
From: hlpinout	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 97611

Storage Salvation By Heather Clancy, CRN 10:37 AM EST Fri., Jan. 12, 2001 I never thought I'd mark the day when I'd start rhapsodizing over storage technology, but I've seen the light. I firmly believe one of the most heated, and potentially industry-changing, market-share battles we will witness during the next 12 months will center on the quickly evolving,and quickly consolidating,storage market. I'll even go out on a limb and suggest that solution providers falling all over themselves to invest in wireless technologies should reconsider whether to divert at least some of those funds to storage-related consulting and services. It's hard to find a major hardware or systems vendor now that hasn't found strong storage religion in the past year or made pushing EMC CEO Mike Ruettgers off the top of the storage heap one of their key competitive agenda items for 2001. We'll explore this issue further next week in the CRN cover story. Need proof? Consider Compaq, which acquired extensive storage offerings when it bought Digital. With its move to split these product lines and create a new Enterprise Storage Group, Compaq is seeking nothing less than to double its SAN installations during the next 12 months to about 2,000 per quarter. And it's depending on a special cadre of enterprise storage integrators to aid in this mission. Meanwhile, Sun's planned acquisition of HighGround, the storage management technology company that also happens to boast a Compaq executive as a board member, is another clear indicator that storage is red hot. Even though Sun, like its fierce rivals, would prefer to see its own brand on the storage devices sitting next to its customers' systems, it recognizes the need to support and manage heterogenous storage devices. The message: No one can afford to ignore this opportunity, especially as analytics and CRM applications become the poster children for the maturing e-business software movement. Certainly, Sun, Compaq and other big-name hardware vendors, including IBM and Hewlett-Packard, aren't going to find it easy to displace EMC, with its enterprise cachet. But these vendors have valuable background experience with solution providers that could lead them down the road to storage salvation. Compaq has taken the first step, by creating a storage certification that should ensure its storage products are taken seriously in all types of accounts. One word of caution to Compaq, however: Be careful not to make it too expensive for some of your smallest,and most loyal,solution providers to earn this designation. After all, one area EMC hasn't spent much time is with small and midsize businesses. And that could prove to be the company's biggest vulnerability. Speak your mind. HEATHER CLANCY is eActivist at CRN. You can pique her interest by e-mailing her at hclancy@cmp.com.