Saw this piece by Clay Rider of Sageza Group on Avamar and VMware.
BTW, I love reading El Reg -- one of my favorite on-line news rags. Good content, served up with a healthy dose of cynicism and insider humor.
I don't know whether EMC sponsored this piece or not, but I loved the way he got to some of the key points pretty quickly, so it's worth a read.
Bottom line:
- Lots of redundant data in VMware environments, probably much more so than in traditional physical environments, opportunity for client-side global data de-dupe.
- VCB integration means smoother access to virtual machines, and probably less physical hardware.
But there's a bit more here as well ...
I'd guess I'd like to use this opportunity to repeat a few broader themes I've mentioned previously.
Virtualization Changes Everything
First, in the process of server virtualization (specifically advanced VMware ESX 3.x implementations) there's an opportunity (or a necessity) to look at broader infrastructure issues.
Yes, there are specific storage considerations. But backup is ripe for revisiting. As is replication. And storage resource management. And, soon enough, overall IT resource management.
Of all of these, I think the #1 Let's-Go-Fix-This-At-The-Same-Time candidate in VMware environments will be backup.
Why? Not too many people are happy with their existing backup/recovery approach, usually making a combination of fulls and incrementals with a tape image as the basic management object.
Every time I find some time to take the car in for mechanical work, there always are a few things I'd like fixed at the same time. Same kind of thinking will probably play out here --
Integrating Acquisitions
Second, I think Clay spotted a key theme about how EMC is thinking about its various acquisitions. The usual concern is "how is EMC integrating everything?".
From a business process perspective (sales, support, business ops) the story's pretty good here, and getting better. But the real root of the question usually has to do with the technology portfolio.
While it's true we're working on standardized technology approaches in a variety of areas (e.g. management, security), the bigger (and more immediate) benefit is what I've started to call "hybridization".
We acquire VMware. We acquire Avamar. We've got a strong motivation to make sure that Avamar works really, really well with VMware (as well as the rest of our portfolio).
We have a storage business. We acquire RSA. We've got a strong motivation to use RSA technology to secure storage (as well as lots of other places).
We acquire a company that does security event management (Network Intelligence, now enVision). We acquire SMARTS, which has a great auto-discovery capability, as well as game-changing modelling technology. We've got a strong motivation to use SMARTS in enVision, because the same sorts of problems show up in SEM.
I could repeat that story several dozen times for Documentum, Legato, Rainfinity and much more. Dozens, maybe hundreds, of hybridization examples -- and that's just the ones I know about.
The IP, expertise and technology gets cross-pollinated. Engineering groups invest to make sure that their products works really, really well with other parts of the portfolio. There's a pre-defined ecosystem (e.g. EMC products) that product groups can target their integration efforts towards, and they get the benefit of having a great distribution channel to take the value-add to market.
It's a virtuous circle.
And, you want to know the best part?
Once everyone gets comfortable with everyone else, most of it kind of seems to happen intuitively. Yes, there's a need occasionally for a centralized focus on a couple of issues (that would be Mark's job), but I continue to be amazed at the level of spontaneous value-creation.
Part of me thinks that, at some time, this period in EMC's history will be some sort of case study as to how a technology uses an acquisition study to not only transform itself, but capitalize on a strategic opportunity.
I think there'll be far more positives than negatives when the final tally comes in.
Hi Chuck,
I wanted to let you know that this piece I wrote was not EMC sponsored. Nevertheless, I am glad that you enjoyed it.
Cheers,
Clay Ryder
Posted by: Clay Ryder | June 27, 2007 at 07:46 PM