发布时间 : 星期一 文章GARTNER-PAPER-magic-quadrant更新完毕开始阅读836f613f856a561253d36f1a
and data warehouse environments, including Oracle, SAP, IBM and Microsoft. FusionCube uses afederated (or scale-out) storage architecture, which is more akin to the architectural style of anHCIS, as opposed to that of external controller-based storage.
Key areas of strength for FusionCube are virtual desktop infrastructure, server virtualization andDBMS. Huawei is a certified SAP Hana provider and certified to scale out Hana deployments onFusionCube to 16TB. FusionCube is appropriate for Huawei software users, but also supportsmultiple third-party software options like VMware, Oracle, DB2 and SAP, for example. We
recommend that users of other x86 servers and solutions validate the available level of third-partysoftware certification and local support.Strengths
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Huawei is an established data center brand in China, with a growing customer base across theworld.
Huawei is growing its global presence and can leverage existing acceptance intelecommunications and data center networking accounts to do this.
Huawei's investment in integrated system technology supports its goals of becoming a globaldata center brand. Huawei leverages latest-generation technologies, and also has a trackrecord of unique technology innovation and differentiation.
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ISV support for FusionCube is improving, but Gartner client inquiries have indicated potential forsupport and certification issues with some third-party software vendors.
Huawei is still growing its global presence; outside of Asia/Pacific, direct or partner coveragemay be lacking, depending on location.
Huawei's recognition as an integrated system provider is only gradually building on the back ofoutbound promotion at Huawei events and other conferences, so the company's credibilityamong IT organizations outside its home geography is inconsistent.
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IBM
As a result of selling its PureFlex technology to Lenovo, IBM's portfolio now focuses on relatedintegrated stack systems like PureApplication System (integrated with application code and
middleware) and PureData System (integrated with database management and big data analytics).IBM has also retained ownership of the PureSystems brand. Multiple offerings are packaged as\Cloud Manager for OpenStack (cloud infrastructure), Expert Integrated Systems (big data and
Hadoop), and Mobile Application Platform (mobile applications). Flex System Manager is the nameof IBM's integrated management tool that works across all PureSystems products; ownership ofthis technology did not transition across to Lenovo.
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IBM has partnered with Cisco to jointly market and support the VersaStack reference architecture,which is based on IBM Storwize storage and Cisco UCS blade servers. Although IBM no longerowns any x86 assets, it still works closely with Lenovo and can resell and support Lenovo'sintellectual property. However, new products like PurePower System indicate IBM's continued
investment in integrated systems, and show that the company's preferred strategy is to promote thePower architecture as the foundation for most of its integrated system strategies moving forward.IBM has strong ISV relationships, especially in vertical industries like financial services, retail,healthcare and energy, where IBM has a strong corporate track record. IBM is also focusing onleveraging the corporate strengths in cloud and big data analytics markets. For instance, IBM isinvesting in delivering coexistence between its integrated systems and comparable functionality ontop of SoftLayer to enable workloads to move work back and forth. But to date, the company hasmade limited progress in turning market recognition for software and services into tangible growthfor integrated systems.Strengths
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IBM has a strong reputation that spans hardware performance, software, services and support.PureApplication and PureData are tuned and optimized to run IBM software stacks with highperformance and functionality.
With no in-house x86 strategy to defend, IBM is able to pursue a stronger focus on Power-based solutions and partner with multiple x86 vendors, including Lenovo and Cisco.
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With the market strongly skewed toward general-purpose solutions based on x86 technology,IBM's market presence has become more niche-oriented with a focus on stack integration.Despite the strong software focus, IBM has not yet achieved recognition as a vendor committedto the hyperconvergence category of the market.
New go-to-market partnerships with Cisco, Lenovo and other vendors are relatively unproven.
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Lenovo
In October 2014, Lenovo bought IBM's complete portfolio of x86 servers and networking switches,along with the supporting IBM business. Lenovo has employed the majority of IBM's globalresearch and development, factory and field-based staff focused on x86 servers. In addition,Lenovo now owns IBM labs and manufacturing locations in Raleigh, North Carolina; San Jose,California; Kirkland, Washington; and Taipei, Taiwan. Lenovo also owns 18 other global sales
support offices, thanks to this deal. Lenovo acquired the PureFlex System, and has since renamedthe family Lenovo Converged System for Infrastructure. Additionally, in January 2015, Lenovoannounced its certification as a VSPEX reference architecture partner for EMC, and has alreadygained hundreds of customers.
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Lenovo's Converged System is based on the Flex System chassis, a blade architecture that wasintroduced by IBM in 2012. With Converged System, networking is integrated and IBM's StorwizeV7000 delivers external-based storage. System management is delivered by Lenovo XClarity, abrand-new management platform that is designed to take advantage of plug-ins and third-partymanagement software integration from providers such as Microsoft and VMware. The XClaritystrategy is relatively distinct from other integrated systems in that it is purposely designed to besimple, meaning the depth and breadth of its capabilities are narrower than most competingproducts. However, when combined with a sophisticated piece of hardware, such as the LenovoConverged System, customers will have to rely on additional third-party tools to deliver appropriatedepth and breadth of management capability to make up for where XClarity is lacking.
Lenovo's Converged System strategy is appealing to new customers, but represents disruption forexisting PureSystems and Flex System customers. Today, IBM and Lenovo have agreements in
place that Lenovo will function as an original equipment manufacturer for Flex System Manager anddevelop Power-based Flex System blades through to the end of this decade. This ultimately meansa migration is in the future for existing PureSystems or Flex System customers, causing futuredisruption. Lenovo is investing in configurations tools and special programs to motivate and assistchannel partners as the transition to a more holistic strategy progresses.Strengths
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Lenovo has a leading market presence and global coverage with its acquired System Xbusiness, existing ThinkServer and Wanquan server customers, and via its large network ofchannel partners.
Lenovo has maintained the enterprise credentials inherited from IBM's success in this market,such as SAP Hana certification with Lenovo Converged System.
Flex System enhancements, along with additional postacquisition partnerships like closeralignment with EMC, have played an important role in proving Lenovo's attractiveness as apartner provider and augmenting its integrated system strategy.
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Gartner inquiries and client surveys indicate a decreasing confidence in Lenovo's credibility asan enterprise vendor following the System X acquisition.
Lenovo must demonstrate that it can retain the staff and channel partners that have beeninherited through the acquisition. It must also maintain its enterprise focus while shifting thefocus of its business, including transitioning integrated systems to a volume-oriented market.Lenovo must execute credible postacquisition roadmaps to demonstrate that the previous IBMinvestment in integrated system engineering and product innovation will not suffer under newownership.
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NetApp
NetApp's participation in the integrated system market rests on two offerings: its well-known
FlexPod offering and its differentiated VMware Evo:Rail offering, which constitutes a small portion ofits converged infrastructure revenue overall.
FlexPod began as a reference architecture that has benefited from years of Cisco and NetApp jointdevelopment and a cooperative support agreement to become a valid integrated system assembledby value-added resellers (VARs) at the customer's site. FlexPod's appeal is further enhanced bycollaboration with other vendors, such as VMware, Microsoft, Oracle, SAP, Citrix and Red Hat, andthrough marketing programs such as FlexPod Express for small enterprises and FlexPod Select forspecialized workloads like Hadoop. FlexPod has seen strong market acceptance driven by its use ofCisco and NetApp hardware, co-marketing programs and a VAR network consisting of more than1,000 partners certified to sell FlexPod, and over 90 FlexPod Premium Partners that drive the vastmajority of FlexPod sales. Microsoft and Citrix have also agreed to participate in the FlexPodCooperative Support Program, along with Cisco, NetApp and VMware. The FlexPod portfolio hasalso expanded, with support for a wider number of SKUs.
NetApp Integrated VMware Evo:Rail solution is initially targeting NetApp enterprise customers withmany remote offices. Integrating its entry-level fabric-attached storage (FAS) systems into its
Evo:Rail solution enables these large enterprises to share the same technology between their datacenters and remote offices with all its attendant benefits, but without a proportional increase inmanagement overhead. NetApp's Ontap Edge has also provided its customer base a path to asoftware-defined data center, along with financial and operational advantages. Foremost amongthese advantages is the ability to offload data protection overhead, enable thin provisioning andperform in-band compression and postingest deduplication — all attributes that make it particularlyattractive in VDI environments.Strengths
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NetApp has a worldwide presence, a huge installed base, FlexPod success, sales bandwidthand partnership relationships.
Both FlexPod and Evo:Rail offer integration with the cloud.
FlexPod is designed to be hypervisor-agnostic, and is validated with VMware ESX, Hyper-V andXenServer. FlexPod will also work with bare metal when no hypervisor is suitable.
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Changes in NetApp senior management and losses of key personnel may portend futurechanges of focus in marketing and product strategies.
Cisco's new management team has de-emphasized its relationship with NetApp and may notbe as emotionally invested in the business-to-business relationship as the old guard. The Ciscorelationships with hyperconvergence vendors like SimpliVity and expanded partnerships withother storage vendors indicate a reduction in the strategic value of NetApp as a partner.
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