Did you see the series of announcements Cisco made this week? It was pretty impressive. This is the traditional season where Cisco announces products and new initiatives but this week’s announcements were very extensive — new switches, routers, security devices, wireless access points, WAN optimization equipment, etc.
In its marketing mastery, Cisco related all of these announcements to two core strategic initiatives, data center virtualization and borderless networks. In other words, Cisco is talking about the way IT applications and services are hosted (central data centers, virtualization, cloud), and the way they are accessed (wired and wireless networks, security, access control).
Cisco is clearly demonstrating that it plays in a different space then it used to. It’s all about industries, business processes, and enterprise IT now; the network simply glues all the pieces together. So why all these announcements at once? Doesn’t this water down the individual piece parts? I don’t think so. Cisco is actually doubling down on integration across its products with an overall strategy aimed at:
Now I realize that the “integrated stack” story has limited value today since customers have a history of buying servers from HP, wired networks from Cisco, Wi-fi from Aruba, storage from , etc. That said, IT is radically changing. For example, ESG Research indicates that server virtualization is driving a lot more cooperation across disparate functional IT groups. As these organizations come together, it’s only natural that they will look for common solutions from fewer vendors.
In the meantime, service providers and financially-strapped organizations (i.e., State/local government, higher education, real estate, etc.) will look for IT savings anywhere they can, even if it means moving away from some vendors with relatively stronger point products in the process.
Cisco also has a services opportunity in that it gets to play services Switzerland and partner with companies like Accenture, CSC, and Unisys in competition with IBM Global Services and HP/EDS.
Lots of people knock Cisco products and point to better, faster, cheaper alternatives. Maybe, but the overall Cisco story seems pretty strong to me. As of Tuesday, Cisco has a bunch of new products that support its corporate strategy and make its story even stronger.
Tags: Acceture, Aruba Networks, Cisco Systems, CSC, HP, IBM, Juniper Networks, Riverbed, Unisys Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment »
Like the RSA Security conference in March, Interop will likely offer non-stop hyperbole about all things related to cloud computing. Nevertheless, I expect a lot of additional and very useful dialogue around the following topics:
See you in Vegas.
Tags: 3Com, Aerohive, Aruba Networks, Bluecoat, Cisco, Citrix, HP, Meru, Microsoft, Riverbed Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »
Last week I blogged about ESG’s new data on IT spending. Here is a bit more detail with regard to networking and security.
Nearly half of all mid-market (i.e. 100 to 999 employees) and enterprise (i.e. 1,000 employees or more) companies will increase their spending on network hardware in 2010. Top priorities include WLAN, IP telephony, and WAN optimization.
Fifty-five percent of mid-market and enterprise organizations will increase their spending on information security technologies. In this case, there are differences between the sectors: 48% of mid-market organization will increase their spending on information security technologies while a whopping 61% of enterprises will increase their spending on information technologies. Top priorities are network security, endpoint security, and messaging/web security.
What does this mean for the tech industry?
All in all, the data points to more positive momentum. A good year for vendors to re-engage with customers, build long-term partnerships, and help them move beyond the Status Quo.
Tags: 802.11n, Aruba Networks, Brocade Networks, Cisco Systems, Crossbeam Systems, endpoint security, HP, Juniper Networks, McAfee, network security, Palo Alto Networks, WLAN Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment »
I never really believed the rumors about HP buying Brocade. No disrespect to Brocade, I just thought that HP’s interest was really in Ethernet and IP networking and not Fibre Channel.
Will another company acquire Brocade? I can’t think of any obvious takers. The financial analyst rumors that Juniper would buy Brocade were ridiculous and obviously spread by someone who doesn’t know Juniper. IBM and Dell? I don’t think either company is gung-ho to get back into the networking game. Besides, both companies already have a Brocade OEM relationship in place.
Since Brocade is likely to remain independent, my advice would be to prepare for the long-haul by filling in product gaps with innovative startups and doubling down on its direct sales and distribution channel resources.
If I were in charge of M&A at Brocade, here are a few areas that would top my Christmas shopping list.
1. WLAN. Yes, I know Foundry has a wireless offering but I can’t imagine that it is selling a lot of equipment. If Brocade’s board can stomach another big deal, Aruba Networks would give the company an immediate WLAN leadership position where it could upsell other switches and routers. If Aruba is too rich for Brocade’s taste, Meru Networks has great technology and would probably sell for a song.
2. Network security. The pickings are slim here but one interesting play might be Crossbeam Systems. Crossbeam is one of a few high-end “Network Security Super Gateways” (NSSG) and has been very successful in the service provider and ISP markets. This could help Brocade in both areas and also bring an instant relationship with Crossbeam OEMs like Check Point and ISS (now IBM). This would also complement Brocade’s data center strength.
3. Security management. Like Aruba, Brocade could reach for the stars and pick up market leader ArcSight but this would cost over $1 billion. Again, if this price is a bit too scary, Brocade could choose networking-savvy Nitro Security or feisty LogRhythm. Any of these choices could give Brocade a Cisco MARS alternative.
4. WAN optimization/Application Delivery. Brocade has a pretty good portfolio of Application Delivery Controllers but it could become a market upstart by grabbing A10 Networks. A10′s economic value proposition could be extremely attractive for companies with large and growing web applications and A10′s founder has roots at Foundry. This could also leverage Brocade’s data center prowess. On the WAN optimization side, SilverPeak has some strength in data center-to-data center networking and is likely available.
5. Network management. Lots of niche players here, too many to name. My advice would be to work closely with CA.
Brocade could stand firm as it has the Fibre Channel market pretty much locked up but Cisco, Dell, and even HP have internal agendas that probably favor FCoE over time. Nevertheless, FC isn’t going away any time soon. This gives Brocade a data center beachhead to build from. In this regard, Crossbeam and A10 Networks would definitely be a short-term fit while the others mentioned above would provide instant diversification.
In my humble opinion a creative M&A or aggressive partnering strategy would be extremely useful for Brocade in 2010 and beyond.
Tags: Aruba Networks, Brocade Networks, CA, Cisco Systems, Crossbeam Systems, Dell Computer, HP, IBM, Juniper Networks, Meru Networks Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »
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