Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

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

To: JakeStraw who wrote (8084)	5/7/2001 4:18:02 PM
From: Winston Chen	Respond to of 10934

SAN FRANCISCO, May 7 (Reuters) - Computer storage maker Network Appliance Inc. (NasdaqNM:NTAP - news) is getting more attention from customers considering its products for key network jobs, but sales are still taking time, a senior executive said Monday. Major corporations have often turned a cold shoulder to Network Appliance's contention its stand-alone storage products are tough enough to handle data bases and other major programs that are critical to a company. Senior Vice President for Marketing Mark Santora told Reuters companies needed to save money in tight economic times and so were considering Network Appliance's relatively simple systems in place of more complex and expensive storage area networks. ``They are being forced to look at new options,'' he said, referring to information-technology departments who previously had been willing to consider Network Appliance for critical jobs only when they started new projects. ``I believe we're getting into more and more enterprise deals,'' he said. But, he added, ``the spending cycles are typically somewhat longer,'' for such key equipment. Network Appliance warned earlier last month it would not meet financial expectations in its just-finished fourth quarter because companies under economic pressure were taking longer to buy products, even in the relatively hot sector of data storage. Network Appliance will also unveil Tuesday a software management system, the DataFabric Manager, for controlling multiple Network Appliance systems from a single location. That will improve life for mid-size customers that cannot afford a high-end solution, Santora said. Enterprise Storage Group analyst Steve Duplessie said Network Appliance customers had an average of 9 NetApp storage units and needed a better way to manage them, which the new software would supply, even if it was not revolutionary. ``You would think it is somewhat rudimentary and they should have figured it out a long time ago,'' he said of the management software, ``but it is in fact very worthwhile.''