Notes from Emerald City

Computerworld - This year, the Spring Storage Networking World show caravanned out of the desert and landed in San Diego. Good move. Attendance was way up, and that put everyone – storage administrators and the vendors they depend on – in good spirits.

As these shows progress, I’m always asked the following question at least once: “So, what have you seen that looks cool?” I guess I’ve become jaded in that I’ve stopped looking for the next new thing at these shows. I’ve seen the man behind the curtain more than once. Nevertheless, here’s what I’ve taken away from Spring SNW 2006.

First, I’m happy to report that Microsoft will support SMI-S in future releases of Windows Storage Server (WSS). I’ve long been an advocate for SMI-S and continue to support the efforts of the SNIA in moving this open standard forward. Welcome, Microsoft.

Next, let’s look at the EMC/NEC deal that was announced Wednesday morning. I must admit that this one caught me without my briefing shorts. I was told by a newly minted NECer that this broad and somewhat vague announcement is about “little things.” Read the announcement and you’ll know basically about as much as I know. Maybe I’m trying to read the tea leaves without my glasses on, but my sense is that serious growth for storage vendors is bound up in “little things” with broad market potential. I continue to predict that the consumer market is a quickly ripening source of the proverbial low-hanging fruit for storage vendors. The even better news I think is that the growth potential will be enough to finally recapture the attention of Wall Street.

Lastly, I again thank the SNIA’s End User Council for allowing me to host a panel that showcased two IT administrators and two Record and Information Management (RIM) professionals. This panel left no doubt among storage administrators in the audience that the RIM community has a vital ILM role to play.

John Webster is senior analyst and founder of research firm Data Mobility Group LLC. He is also the author of numerous articles and white papers on a wide range of topics and is the co-author of the book Inescapable Data: Harnessing the Power of Convergence (IBM Press, 2005). Webster can be reached at jwebster@datamobilitygroup.com.