Commoditisation unlikely for storage software
Commoditisation unlikely for storage software
The idea that storage software going the way of storage hardware and becoming a commodity – as has been mooted in industry circles – has been dismissed by one of the leading players in the storage software market.
Simon Elisha, strategic technical architect for Veritas Australia, outlined why he believed the situation facing hardware vendors would not be replicated in the software market.
"Software by its nature is different from hardware in that if you look at hardware, there are only really two flavours of hard drive out there from a manufacturing perspective. Everyone is wrapping them, combining them and packaging them in different ways, but essentially everyone is buying the same piece of hardware. With software, it's a slightly different situation, as you have a lot of intellectual property, capabilities that are patented and unavailable elsewhere."
Elisha acknowledged that some similarities exist between rival storage software applications in the market, but argued that the differences between various software applications and the ingenuity of certain software applications in terms of what they can deliver are key determinants in maintaining value.
"It's true that there is a degree of crossover in terms of functionality with different software offerings, but it always boils down to how well the software can handle any given situation, and I can say from personal experience that plugging a bit of hardware into a network is a lot easier than getting a piece of software to interact with the operating system, the other applications, and meet the business needs.
"I don't really see that (commoditisation) being a danger in the short or the long term, because of the nature of software, and I think that's why a lot of the hardware vendors are looking to software to fund their growth and future success."
Elisha spoke in the wake of Veritas' Vision 2004 conference, which took place in Las Vegas last week. He said the event was largely centred on how Veritas had progressed with its utility computing strategy.
"At last year's conference we stood up and said this is how we see utility computing and this is the type of products we are going to release. This year, it was all about delivering on that promise, which we did with the release of a number of new and upgraded products and services.
"It all ties in with the do more with less mantra, of being able to deliver IT services as a service to business in a way that makes sense to the business, with the ability to report it on business lines as well as technology lines."
Elisha added that an important function of the conference was to reassure delegates that moving towards a utility computing model was not about ripping up your infrastructure and starting again, or throwing the baby out with the bathwater.
"Understanding that changing the way IT departments operate is a journey rather than a written or basic theory, and it's important to understand that what they are currently using is valuable, valid and has life, and that a building block approach can be taken."
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