As we wrap up a troubled 2009 and look towards a brighter 2010, a number of storage-related stories stand out as the top news candidates, ranging from increasing demand for capacity coupled with decreasing price tags to the ongoing soap opera that is poor Sun Microsystems. The following are Channel Insider's choices for the top 10 news stories for 2009.
The continuing onslaught of vendor consolidation can make customers hesitate to buy technology -- or at least from a specific company (just ask Sun or its good buddy IBM).
“In a market with this much consolidation, there’s uncertainty that leaves many customers wondering how to manage the changes,” says Jim DeCaires, Storage Product marketing manager for Fujitsu America. He says recent announcements like Oracle’s acquisition of Sun and EMC's acquisition of Data Domain have a profound impact on many customers who now face uncertainty about their future technology plans or even how to address immediate business demands.
Customers aren't the only ones to suffer, and while Oracle fiddles and Sun burns, competitors aren't standing still. IBM has announced wins with 250 Sun accounts in the first half of 2009 and the migration of more than 1,800 Sun installations to IBM technology over the past three years. Big Blue also claims to have engaged over 200 of Sun’s channel partners and ISVs this year. While no numbers have been offered, it appears that HP has experienced similar success at Sun's expense.
As the old saying goes, when one door closes, another opens. And with the storage market experiencing plus-50-percent growth per year, it's hard not to feel optimistic about 2010.
about 13 hours agoAssessing the Impact of HP Layoffs - HP needs channel partners to help put some distance between it all the drama ... http://t.co/2H0Gq8HJ
about 15 hours agoThin Client Opportunity Gets Richer for the Channel - IT organizations are rethinking client strategy in the age of ... http://t.co/JxUbh24m
May 23rd 4:38 PMPutting a Channel Face on the Cloud - Amazon, Google and others may leverage the channel to compete more aggressivel... http://t.co/RUeo9iT5
May 22nd 10:41 PMExpanding the Reach and Scope of Desktop Virtualization - VMware moves to acquire Wanova - VMware has set out to ... http://t.co/Ad020fhT
May 22nd 8:58 PMConsidering the IBM Watson Possibilities - IBM looks to the channel to help find new use cases for cognitive computi... http://t.co/CAljVbac
May 22nd 8:54 AMVariations on a Cloud Storage Theme in the Channel - EMC expands focus on the cloud via a channel that is wrestling ... http://t.co/MORSpkkb
May 21st 10:43 AMRightsizing the Cloud Service Provider - Cloudbursting will alter the way the channel thinks about cloud computing i... http://t.co/eZ33qdKE
May 17th 6:39 PMThe Future of IT Services - Automated managed services are transforming the way IT services are delivered - Histo... http://t.co/w4zvAS8u
May 17th 12:39 PMRising to the Cloud Application Management Challenge - BetterCloud previews management tool for Google Apps environm... http://t.co/KzhO7FlP
May 16th 11:00 AMPlaying the IT Services Name Game - HP expands ability of partners to deliver branded services as part of effort to ... http://t.co/XU3QOnKz
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