I often consider the competitive landscape of storage companies—both larger and smaller than NetApp—but sometimes it's good to consider the bigger picture, so I decided to identify all of the major companies that we co-exist with in enterprise data centers:
|
Large |
Jumbo | Ginormous |
To generate this list, I started with Forbes's Global 2000 and Largest Private Companies lists, and identified companies that sell hardware, software and services into big data centers. I excluded component suppliers like Intel, and I excluded companies like Sony and Apple that are more consumer-focused. Next, I added Hitachi Data Systems and Fujitsu-Siemens which are subsidiaries of larger companies. Finally, I made a special exception and included Brocade, even though it's not large enough to make the Global 2000. They are just so critical in our part of the data center that it felt wrong not to have them on the list. (I used bold for the companies that are most relevant in our part of the data center.)
The biggest surprise for me when I first put this list together was how few IT companies there are at this level. I may have missed a few key players, but I think this fast and dirty approach gives a pretty good sense of the IT landscape.
From the perspective of a startup, it seems like there are a bazillion different companies, and there are always new ones appearing and old ones disappearing, but when you consider major companies in enterprise data centers, it's a pretty small set and it doesn't change very fast. In a sense, for a large IT company, these are your neighbors, and it's important to understand your relationship with them. Which ones are or could be competitors? Which ones are or could be partners? Who most wants to kill you? Do any prefer that you succeed? For NetApp, I won't answer these questions in public, but it's a big topic internally.
Of course, it's also useful to have an opinion about what new companies might show up on the scene, especially if they are disruptive, since those are the most dangerous, but you shouldn't focus so much on the newcomers that you lose sight of your long-term neighbors.
[Note: This data is based on Forbes "Global 2000" on 03/29/2007 and 3/30/2006 and Forbes "Largest Private Companies" on 11/09/2006. Fujitsu Siemens data is from their March 2006 annual report. The Hitachi Data number is 4x their March 2007 quarterly report, with the conversion from Yen done on June 20, 2007. This was a fast and dirty effort, so I apologize in advance for any errors.]
Does RedHat not penetrate enough in the enterprise space, or is it that there's a lot of Linux, but no one vendor has enough for you to list it? Or do you see more Windows / Sun attached to Netapp?
-- Blake Golliher
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[Reply by Dave]
Blake,
We do see plenty of Linux and RedHat systems attached to NetApp, but at $400m in revenue last year, RedHat just didn't make the cut.
For public companies, I used the "Forbes Global 2000" list as my definition of "major". Revenue is one of the factors they use to determine the list, but they also use profit, total assets, market value, and maybe other stuff. As a result, there isn't a "revenue cutoff" to make the G2000, but there are very few companies in the list with less than a billion in revenue.
Even Brocade, with $750m in revenue, was too small to make the G2000 list, but they are so fundamental to storage that I couldn't bring myself to leave them out, so I made one special exception for them.
Dave
Posted by: Blake Golliher | July 16, 2007 at 09:25 AM
Interesting list Dave. Thanks.
Posted by: Alex Gorbachev | July 16, 2007 at 09:29 AM