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A perfect storm!

Each time in a great while an event occurs that completely changes us in ways that we can not imagine. Inside Information Technology is also more widespread. As we look back on some of the most revolutionary events in the IT industry in the last 30 some odd years, you get the meaning that it is not always about innovation itself. It is usually a culmination of several factors that propels the whole widget, applications, or process in the first plane of our everyday lives. It is very similar to the weather conditions that come together to make that proverbial perfect storm. I am not this analogy is used to describe the destructive capacity of the storm, but the momentum can be generated when all the conditions within IT and business in general the right to create a perfect storm.

I followed the announcement of Cisco Blade Center Solution (Unified Computing) from the middle of 2008 and that has all the ingredients of a perfect storm. There are voices saying this is a new blade center technology that allows true virtualization within the data center. I was intrigued by the items that have been flying around, so I decided to investigate for me. I began, like many others, on the search engines and let your mouse do on foot. I was surprised to find so much information on Unified Computing. The reason is that "Unified Computing" has not yet been announced by Cisco. To clarify, a lot of people it is a solution that the company has not announced to the world. And 'this a marketing ploy? I am trying to hide something? Or is it the kind of technology that will live up to the hype and redefining the data center as we know it?

I consider myself a skeptic when it comes to accusations like these. I am a "Prove It!" type of machine, if it has not been verified as fact is fiction. It is a mantra that has saved me more than once. So I started reading the blogs, articles, press releases and some of the companies participating in the project. I came with a list including EMC, VMware, BMC, Intel, Qlogic and at a minimum, apparently, are part of this project. At least, this is a team of A-list with respect to the data center is in question. I could not find specific information about your computer solution Unified same. No specific hardware or software, just a lot of words, as revolutionary, synonymous with technological progress, and cool with sprinkles of awesome. There was not much to go forward, so instead I thought the concept, team members, and the current conditions ... And what has the potential to make the perfect storm.

But what are these conditions or factors that I'm talking about?

Economic conditions

There are two fundamental questions economic down turns in the company should ask: How can I spend out of debt and that the vendors to survive the financial crisis? The first question is easy, with the purchase of long-term solutions, reduce costs and virtualization has proven to be a technology to reduce costs. You basically spend to save money. The second is the one best answer historical perspective. During difficult economic times, consumers tend to migrate towards the larger, more stable suppliers. Cisco has been around for a long period of time, extremely stable, with lots of cash on hand and has a base of very loyal customers. Many organizations have struck upon the bankruptcy filing of Nortel. Companies will likely choose a more stable when considering a purchase in the near future.

Customer needs

Emerson wrote: "Building a better mousetrap and the world would beat a path to your door." This is a statement loaded, define better! Easier, less expensive, more security, ISO compliant? The last one is a stretch of a mousetrap, but it is my point. For this we need to investigate what the solution can provide. And 'the client that determines if it meets their needs. Here is a list of what comes from this solution

1) only provider of solutions in the Data Center

a. This is huge, it's always easier to deal with a single supplier rather than 4 or 5 if the supplier asking them to work well with others

2) Total Data Center Solution

a. Network, storage, application services, communications, etc. .. All under the same umbrella

3) Simplify Support

a. A single end-to-end support structure for the Data Center

4) Integration simplified

a. You have to be able to play well in the sand with the others and the Data Center is a great sandbox

b. Collaboration by all key players to provide a tightly integrated solution that in turn reduces the time of installation, troubleshooting, and general management

c. End-to-end solution

5) Reducing the costs of technology

Technological advances

This is a difficult as technical specifications have not been released. However, I have not seen a solution that Cisco has released that has not had a large number of technological progress. The key is, this is not only a Cisco solution. I expect to see tremendous progress from some of the other partners. Intel, EMC and VMware, and Qlogic, could provide very interesting technological advances.

The Perfect Storm:

Cisco is ready to be a major player in the data center market and could impact the current leaders, HP and IBM. All conditions within the market that have the potential to catapult the Cisco solution in the forefront. Partners such as Intel, EMC, VMware, and BMC are the leaders in their respective areas and provide a very powerful team.