Saturday, January 19, 2013

It takes ‘3’ to make a ‘Com’eback!

The 3Com acquisition is a definite plus to HP’s suite of data centre offerings (triple play of server, storage and networking), but integration problems could be quite daunting

Move over Microsoft & Google. Move over Intel & AMD (especially after the truce they just announced). The rivalry that could beat them all to the record books when it comes to the technology industry could well be the rivalry between two technology giants who are well known in their respective industries as companies who made all competition bite the dust. They have been partners for long when it comes to providing a comprehensive suite of solutions to their clients; and have won business together. However, their win-win relationship now seems to be a thing of the past.

Yes, we are talking about HP and Cisco, iconic companies led by iconic leaders Mark Hurd and John Chambers respectively. As the world, and the IT industry move towards a shaky recovery, these two leaders seem to be intent on redrawing the battle lines with regard to what they stand for and can deliver. And thanks to this latest posturing, they are finding it increasingly difficult to stand each other.

It all started when Cisco made a major play into the server market when it mooted the idea of marketing its own servers, therefore providing its clients with the benefit of one unified data center from one vendor – with server, storage and networking as a combination offering. The transition was mainly aimed at taking it beyond the status of a mere box mover, which would enable it to extract more value out of its clients. Earlier this month, Cisco has gone a step further as it entered into an alliance with network storage major EMC to enhance its power position in the high stakes cloud computing arena; where data centers are going to be a major winning proposition.

And now the stakes have got even higher with HP’s acquisition of 3Com, a move that aims at making HP a stronger player in the networking space and competing with Cisco. With this acquisition, HP seeks to leverage from 3Com’s expertise in networking as well as its Chinese market. People tend to miss the point that 3Com was the company that pioneered networking, and was founded by Bob Metcalfe (father of the internet networking protocol).


Source : IIPM Editorial, 2012.
An Initiative of IIPMMalay Chaudhuri
and Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

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