HP Aims to Dazzle SMBs

Hewlett-Packard Co. (NYSE: HPQ) has become the first system vendor to commit to offering new low-end Fibre Channel switches from Brocade Communications Systems Inc. (Nasdaq: BRCD).

As part of an initiative to make its SANs more friendly to small and medium-sized business (SMB) users, HP today announced it will ship systems beginning in April with Brocades new low-end Silkworm switch that had been code-named Dazzler.

The announcement puts Brocade on target for the timetable it set for its new switches (see Brocade Battles Back). IBM Corp. (NYSE: IBM) and EMC Corp. (NYSE: EMC) are also expected to use Brocade’s switches in their low-end systems but have not yet announced their plans.

The announcement also highlights momentum behind the SMB market -- and HP's attempt to maintain its hold there. HP already considers SMB the sweet spot for its PC, printer, and server business, and it's has been pursuing a SAN strategy in the SMB market for months (see HP Takes the Low Road and HP Underprices IBM, EMC on Low End).

"It's an extremely important market to HP,” says Frank Harbist, HP’s VP of storage software and infrastructure. “We’ve led the SMB market for many years. Given that, it’s also a focus for a lot of other companies.”HP's got plenty of competition, indeed (see The Battle for Smallsville). Today, for instance, Dell Computer Corp. (Nasdaq: DELL) launched a NAS system for SMBs (see Dell Powers Up New NAS). EMC and Dell have also announced plans for co-branded, low-end SAN systems later this year (see EMC Lets Clariion Out of the Bag).

While HP faces heavy traffic on the low end, Brocade executives call the entry-level switch market fertile ground, since that vendor's main competitors McData Corp. (Nasdaq: MCDTA) and Cisco Systems Inc. (Nasdaq: CSCO) compete mostly at the higher end (see Brocade & McData's Paths Diverge).

Pricing will be one weapon in HP's campaign. The vendor says it will make the Brocade switches available in April in 8- and 16-port configurations beginning at $5,000. Harbist says the switches will be at least 15 percent cheaper than the Brocade switches they replace.

Like the higher-end Silkworm switches, Brocade’s new switches have software features like monitoring and trunking built in. Such advanced features are turned off for the entry-level price, but customers can activate them if they want to upgrade.

As part of its SMB initiative, HP also plans to offer low-cost SATA drives later this year. Harbist says he expects the SATA drives to be popular with companies looking to convert direct attached storage (DAS) into a SAN.— Dave Raffo, Senior Editor, Byte and Switch