Standards before self-interest, says SNIA ANZ chief
Standards before self-interest, says SNIA ANZ chief
The inaugural chairman of the newly formed ANZ chapter of the Storage Network Industry Association (SNIA) says vendor self-interest will not get in the way of standards, because the market won't allow it.
"We find today that the end users demand standards, so if you don't fulfil these standards, you don't get to play – simple as that," said Mark Heers, at the SNIA ANZ official launch in Sydney.
Heers, who will combine his role as EMC's National Product Manager for ANZ with that of chairman of the ANZ arm of SNIA, added, "The mere fact that other vendors develop systems in line with standards forces more vendors to do the same. It will not prevent vendors from being innovative, but it will establish a set of rules.
"If you liken it to electricity, if you want to make anything electrical you need to be able to plug it into the circuit or you won't sell your product, but that doesn't stop you being innovative on top of that, but you still need to work within those standards."
Heers said the industry is already seeing many of the vendors developing tools and systems in accordance with industry standards.
"The storage management initiative is already up and running, with a great many vendors developing to that standard, with products to appear in the early part of next year that conform to that standard."
The assembled guests at the launch, which included representatives from the vendors already signed up as members, including heavyweights such as IBM, HP, Microsoft, Veritas, Sun, StorageTek and Intel amongst many others, saw a video presentation from Sheila Childs, Chair of the SNIA in the USA.
Childs reviewed the charter and the mission of the SNIA worldwide, including the storage management initiative referred to by Heers, and congratulated those involved in getting the ANZ chapter off the ground.
The newly elected board, which features representatives from EMC, HP, Veritas, IBM, Sun, CA, Imation, Brocade and HDS, will guide the association through its first year, with places up for election after a year. Members may only stay on the board for a maximum of two years.
More information on the SNIA ANZ can be found at www.snia.org.au
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