IBM Bringing Compaq To PartnerWorld
Compaq hardware and software central to new SAN bundle
By Joseph F. Kovar, CRN
Armonk, N.Y.
4:28 PM EST Fri., Feb. 02, 2001
IBM plans to make a big splash at its upcoming
PartnerWorld event in conjunction with one of its biggest
storage partners, Compaq.
Big Blue is expected to unveil availability of a new bundle
of hardware and software products on Feb. 21 aimed at
helping its solution providers integrate storage area
networks (SANs) in mid-range clients.
That SAN bundle, part of IBM's new TotalStorage
Solution Selling program, is based around the Modular
Storage Server, which is IBM's version of the MA8000
array OEM'd from Compaq under a cross-reseller
agreement the two companies signed last July.
Along with the Modular Storage Server, the bundle will
include StorWatch resource management software, as well
as peer-to-peer remote copy and Flash Copy software, all
of which were developed by Compaq for the MA8000,
says Denise Buonaiuto, vice president of business partner
sales worldwide for storage at IBM.
The bundle also includes IBM's new 3584 tape library,
code-named Anaconda, which can be configured for up to
72 LTO drives and 2,481 cartridges, as well as Fibre
Channel switches, Tivoli Storage Manager software and
flexible financing programs, Buonaiuto says.
The SAN bundle is part of a big push by IBM to increase
its storage business through its channel partners,
Buonaiuto says. IBM currently sells 45 percent of its
storage via partners, up from 34 percent early last year,
and those sales are growing 25 percent per year, she says.
The bundle is aimed at midmarket clients with between 300
Gbytes and 1.5 Tbytes of storage capacity with a server
environment primarily focused on Sun, Hewlett-Packard or
Intel-based platforms.
However, IBM is not specifically going after the Compaq installed base, Buonaiuto says.
"IBM and Compaq wanted the relationship to grow markets for both of us," she says. "We
don't think it's necessary to go after the same customers. But there's no prohibition against
a business partner doing so."
IBM will help business partners with marketing of the SAN bundles, and offer incentives to
make them profitable to sell, Buonaiuto says. However, details of such incentives still need
to be worked out, she says. The bundle price will be less than if the various components are
purchased separately, she says.
Future bundles are expected to be unveiled throughout the year, Buonaiuto says.
The bundle is currently ready for Windows NT and Solaris environments, with HP-UX
compatibility expected in the near future, IBM executives say. It is expected to be available
for RS/6000 environments in March.
It will be interesting to see how IBM's bundles do, says Pat Kelly, president of Pinnacle
Computer Solutions, a business partner in Sugar Land, Texas.
The Modular Storage Server is a good product and has been doing well for Compaq but has
yet to take off for IBM, Kelly says. "A lot of business partners are not focused on it yet," he
says.
If IBM can put the bundle together at a price less than that of the original components, it
looks good, Kelly says. IBM has offered a similar bundle, the 3466 Network Storage
Manager, for about three or four years, but it never caught on because the total price was
higher than that of sum of the components, although that price did include unlimited Tivoli
Storage Manager upgrades, he says.
PartnerWorld will be held Feb. 25-28 in Atlanta. |
