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February 26th, 2009

Downturn in the Economy an Upturn for FCoE?

Market predictors for the 2009 storage market suggest that the current economic downturn will result in significantly reduced activity. Specifically, companies will be tightening up expense budgets in the data center, which means there will be fewer dollars being spent on new equipment. As such, it appears any technological innovation may hit serious roadblocks trying to be adopted during this economic downturn.

The reality is that while spending may slow down, the demand for data will not. Bandwidth needs will continue to grow exponentially and, in order for storage networks to keep pace, new equipment acquisitions will be necessary. Rather than budget cuts reducing network capacity, network administrators will instead be challenged to do more with less. They will be more careful with their dollars and demand greater value when they do spend. Robustness, performance, bandwidth – these will all still be important considerations, but it is price that will determine sales. As a consequence, this economic downturn can be a golden opportunity for new technologies that successfully either reduce capital investment and/or eliminate operating expenses.

For FCoE to succeed in this climate, reducing cost is the key. While providing the advantages of a converged network bring many benefits to networks, if FCoE cannot seriously beat existing storage offerings on price, it will be slow to achieve traction.


One Response to “Downturn in the Economy an Upturn for FCoE?”

  1. Claudio Says:

    Very good considerations, Joy.
    I agree with you.

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