What's the Solution?

12:45 PM -- Ask any storage marketeer: There's really no such thing as a software package, a piece of hardware, or a $150/hour consulting service, particularly if you're into all three. There are only solutions.

There's certainly no such thing as a Fibre Channel switch vendor. In its latest press release (which uses the word "solution" six times in four paragraphs), McData Corp. (Nasdaq: MCDTA) informs us that it's "the leading provider of storage networking solutions." (See Printing Company Uses McData.)

In its boilerplate, Brocade Communications Systems Inc. (Nasdaq: BRCD) makes a similar claim. It "delivers the industry's leading platforms and solutions." [Italics added.]

Brocade and McData aren't alone. Of the top six press releases in the Byte and Switch newsfeed section this morning, all but two contain the S word at least once. Disk array makers, consulting companies, service providers, hardware and software suppliers -- no one's willing to be relegated to a narrow, outdated category. Solutions rule!

This make sense on several fronts. Prospective customers aren't always sure what they're looking for, except, well... a solution. And it's rare to find that in anything but a combination of hardware, software, and services.The downside is, it's not always clear what's being sold. Does the solution come with software and $200/hour service? Does it come with any service at all? Is maintenance and support part of the solution?

That's the point. Keeping things fuzzy means vendors keep their options for adding revenue open. In an industry where everybody needs help, if a supplier can make a few bucks by adding something -- anything -- to hardware, software, or service, why impose limits?

Mary Jander, Editorial Solutions Provider, Byte and Switch