Storage @ Work

I'm sure this message will get moderated out because it doesn't sing the praises of the M1000e, but in the spirit of a balanced viewpoint, I encourage you to please post it and see how your readers respond.

I'm not exactly sure what you're expecting HP or any other blade vendor to do. When they have a new product, they tout it and definitely show off how they stack up to their competitors (I believe Dell did this recently with their announcement of the M1000e).

The way I see it, HP's BL260c serves a market that Dell cannot serve with any of their blades. So, HP compared it to the ONLY Intel blade that Dell offers - because that's the ONLY comparison they can draw. HP has a true portfolio of blades - they have as many Itanium offerings as Dell has offerings. I know Dell is growing their portfolio - as they should. HP announced the C7000 with only 3 or 4 blade models too, so expect Dell to get it in gear as time goes by, but right now, Dell is at a disadvantage in this area.

You brought up Apples to Apples comparisons, so let’s talk enclosures for a minute. Quite frankly, I’d be embarrassed if I were Dell for trying to build a replica of HP's enclosure and blades. You have to admit it's true - just look at it. Could Dell not build something that they actually thought of? In a way it confirms to me that HP designed the best form factor and enclosure. To me, owning an M1000e is like when I was 11 and my parents didn’t want to spring for the real Atari so we got the Sears knock-off – which looked a LOT like it, but when all your friends came over – they knew. They knew you really wanted the real thing, but you settled. And I looked cool playing it with my imitation Members Only jacket on (which also came from Sears).

Dell needs to concentrate their energy on expanding the portfolio and not on how many boxes they can ship their blades in. As an IT professional, I want a company that I know will build the technology that I need not just today, but tomorrow. From where I sit, if I choose Dell, I know that I first have to wait for the market leaders to build it, and then wait 2 years for Dell to clone it. That doesn’t “compute” in my datacenter.

In all seriousness, please let me know where I may misunderstand Dell's messaging and how the M1000e may truly have some innovative features. Maybe I'm being too hard on Dell and need to give them a closer look...

Hi BladesRock,

I don't have a problem with your comment, that's what this blog stuff is for.

I'll stand by what I said before about HP making a bogus comparison. It might be a marketing game to them if they spin things up (it happens all the time), but I know customers tend to be disappointed when they find out their expectations are not realistic. The performance/watt measurements might not be interesting to you and that was the main thing I called them on.

That said, if HP or you or others want to blog (or comment) about something we say that they think is out of bounds, then by all means they should do so. But don't just say we are guilty of hyperbole - call us out on any points you think are wrong.

Other than that, it seems like you think of Dell as a company that's in the business of making "me too", or trailing edge technology. That's probably a common view of Dell and I guess I'd have to say that's how I've felt about the company for a long time too - until joining Dell as part of EqualLogic in January.

I've seen a lot of engineering creativity and rigor at Dell - especially where energy conservation is concerned. Power engineering is not very glamorous work necessarily, but its incredibly important and it has a lot of value. Dell is investing heavily in this area. I expect we will demonstrate power advantages in our product lines for some time.

Then there are strategic technologies that Dell is growing into by acquisition. That's why I'm here. Who knows where all this will lead, but the company is definitely stepping out beyond its former "knock off" business approach.