Converged Infrastructure And Integrated Systems Research

Didcot/Monnickendam, December 7th 2012 – ITCandor and The METISfiles announce a joint multi-client study on the future of converged infrastructure and integrated systems.

ITCandor and The METISfiles believe vendors are shifting towards supplying new types of integrated systems incorporating server, networking, storage and infrastructure software. Users are considering integrating their fragmented data centre equipment in order to simplify their operations, cut internal staffing costs and increase business agility. Converged infrastructure solutions that package servers, storage, networks, and orchestration software in a single system or rack are becoming increasingly popular. Software defined networks (SDN) open up today’s vertically integrated distributed control networking gear and allow standard switch hardware to be controlled centrally via OpenFlow through an SDN controller. Cloud management platforms (CMPs) start to automatically provision server, storage, and network resources. These are just 2 examples of how innovative technology is being applied to our subject.

We believe there is an urgent need to assess the connections between supplier push and user pull and calculate the chances and timescales for success. With our strong heritage in systems, software and networking research we are uniquely positioned to help meet the needs for business planning information and are keen to help.

We will define, size and look at the success factors for Converged Infrastructure vendors, differentiating these from earlier styles of systems (see Figure above). We will report on the evolution of Matrix Integration strategies (see Figure above). Our findings will be based on a detailed analysis of the main system contenders, including, but not limited to:

• Cisco – Unified Computing System
• Dell – Active System
• Fujitsu – Converged Infrastructure
• VCE – EMC/VMware/Cisco Vblock
• HP – Converged Infrastructure and Mission-Critical Converged Infrastructure
• IBM PureSystems
• Oracle/Sun Exadata

We propose a combination of expert interviews with both vendors and users, augmented with desk research and expert analysis. This will deliver three reports, containing vendor competitive analysis, user wants and needs, and market share, size and forecast respectively.

To download our prospectus, click here – The Future Of Converged Infrastructure And Integrated Systems.

Please contact us if you’re a supplier who’d like to sponsor the study or user who’d like to contribute to our survey:

• Martin Hingley, ITCandor (mhingley@itcandor.com), +441235202125
• Pim Bilderbeek, METISfiles (pim@themetisfiles.nl), +31653902852

Network Market Q3 2012 – Cisco’s Dominance Continues

Networking Market Highlights Q3 2012

• In the year to the end of September 2012 the total network hardware market declined by 4% to $179.3 billion
• Cisco led the market with an 18.1% share ($32.4 billion)
• In the Enterprise/Consumer segment the market grew 3% to $52.6 billion
• Cisco had a massive 54.2% share ($28.5 billion) of the Enterprise/Consumer network market
• The Service Provider network segment declined by 7% to $126.7 billion
• Enterprise networking outpaces Service Provider as well as telecom service growth

IBM’s Ambuj Goyal – A New Lens On Data Centre Development

IBM Data Centre Vision Highlights

• Separates ‘systems of engagement’ from ‘systems of record’ trends
• Reviews the increasing CIO challenges
• Sees a need to accelerate business velocity
• Focuses on reducing server management and admin costs as a proportion of data centre spending
• Identifies six trends in consolidation over time
• Offers integrated offerings (such as PureSystems) to intersect these evolving user needs
• We believe it offers Matrix Integration, protecting customers from future lock-in

The Future Of The Network Is Software Defined

We’re very pleased that Pim has agreed to let us republish this article on Software Defined Networking, previously published by the METISfiles.

Last week we attended the NetEvents EMEA Press and Analyst Summit. Part of the 2-day program was a debate session on Software Defined Networks (SDN) with panellists from Gartner, IDC, IBM, Dell, HP, Extreme Networks, Enterasys and yours truly. The debate centred on the question who is first to ride the SDN revolution, the Enterprise, the Cloud Data Centre, or the Service Provider (and where is it taking them)?

What is SDN?

SDN is about separating the network router and switch data plane (hardware that does packet forwarding) from the control plane (logic that controls packet forwarding). In SDN the control path decisions are taken out of the switch and managed by software on a centralised server. In other words, SDN is about providing a programmable interface into the infrastructure to modify the network infrastructure behaviour and delegate the capability of modifying that to other IT systems. The OpenFlow protocol, which the Open Networking Foundation (ONF) is standardizing, is part of SDN and is used to communicate between an external OpenFlow controller and OpenFlow enabled switches (see Figure below).

Anyone For ‘Hardware Defined Networking’?

Networking Highlights Q2 2012

• The total market was worth $196 billion in the year to the end of June
• Ericsson led the Service Provider market with a 14.6% share ($20.0 billion)
• NSN was in second place with 13.3% share ($18.1 billion)
• Cisco led the Enterprise/Consumer area with a 47.2% share ($28.3 billion)
• Avaya was in second place with a 6.1% share ($3.7 billion)
• Service Provider network revenues were down 12% in the quarter to $30.5 billion and down 12% for the year to $136 billion
• Enterprise/Consumer network revenues were up 3% in the year to $60 billion and level at $14.6 billion for the quarter
• Total profits for the year were down 2% to $11.4 billion, but up 23% to $2.5 billion in the quarter
• Service Provider network profits were up 6% to $919 million in the quarter, down 22% to $4.8 billion for the year
• Quarterly Enterprise/Consumer network profits were up 36% to $1.6 billion and up 20% to $6.7 billion for the year

Converged Infrastructure And The $299 Billion Data Centre Market

Data Centre Spending Highlights Q2 2012

• Total spending was $299 billion in year to June
• Internal staffing cost $141 billion – 47.4% of the total
• Servers cost $40 billion (13.5%) – IBM led with 24.9%
• Networking cost $30 billion (9.9%)– Cisco dominated with a 55.3% share
• Storage systems accounted for $30 billion (9.9%) – EMC led with a 19.8% share
• Infrastructure software was 6.0% of spending and growing
• Other spending includes Telecom and IT services, Power and cooling
• Vendors are grouping for converged infrastructure business

The 2011 Network Hardware Market – Trends In Type, Vendor And Profitability

we’ve made a few changes to our earlier analysis which this post replaces – reducing the market sizes slightly and adjusting a few market shares

Network Highlights 2011

• Network hardware created $194 billion in revenue – up 4%
• The Service Provider category was worth $135 billion
• The Enterprise/Consumer category was worth $59 billion
• Cisco led with a 47.6% share of Enterprise/Consumer networks
• Ericsson, with a 17.3% share, led the Service Provider category
• Profitability was higher in Enterprise/Consumer networks
• A significant drop in Telecom Service profits in Q4 2011 may have a negative effect on Service Provider networks in 2012
• Networking is providing a strong integrating factor in the development of the overall ITC market
• Wireless networking will grow fast as a result of smart phones and tablets entering large organisations

9. A Staggered 4G Rollout Disrupts Network And Wireless Markets

Worldwide Networks – The Dynamism Of A $214 Billion Market

Network Overview Q411

• A market worth $214 billion in the year to the end of September 2011
• Cisco has a 50% share of the $64 billion Enterprise/Consumer Networks
• Ericsson has a 16% share of the $150 billion Service Provider Networks
• LAN Switches are the biggest Enterprise/Consumer Network offering
• The Americas is the strongest region in terms of growth
• Profitability is better in the Enterprise/Consumer than in Service Provider area
• The introduction of 4G will be disruptive
• Suppliers in this area employ 570k staff

From Unified To Social Communications And Collaboration

I’m very pleased to be publishing an artcle her from Pim Bilderbeek, a colleague who works for the METISfiles and has helped us with contributions to this site many times before.

We have come a long way since Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone in 1876. Mr. Bell’s first call was to his assistant, Thomas A. Watson, in the next room, speaking these famous first words, “Mr. Watson — come here — I want to see you”. Today we can reach virtually anyone on the planet instantly – whenever and wherever they are – with the multitude of communications channels and devices that we have at our disposal. But with this multitude comes the danger of information overload and communications breakdown. In fact, we make a point that the competitive advantages of being an elastic enterprise could be in real danger of being offset through ineffective collaboration between workers, customers, partners and business units caused by information overload and communications breakdown.