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Checklist: Be prepared for vendor consolidation |
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Minimize risk before it happens |
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You can take steps to ensure that the impact of consolidation has the least possible effect. Consider the following: |
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•Work with your customers to select the right vendors. It is more likely that the larger more mature vendor will acquire its competition; the big fish will swallow the small fish. Work with vendors who will integrate new technology into their existing product sets. |
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•Stick with standard technologies; don't try and implement things that are too radical. Keep what you implement simple. |
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•Keep to industry standards. Advise your customers not to implement unratified protocols or "non-standard standards" without thinking through the implications. For example, when choosing Fibre Channel technology, Cisco VSANs will add functionality but don't work when connected to other fabric vendors' kits. |
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•Think about product longevity. Choose technologies that look to have a long lifespan. |
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Develop migration strategies |
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When the inevitable happens and a product line or two get merged together, how will you cope? |
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•Help your customer develop a product roadmap; work with both customers and vendors to develop a clear understanding of future product direction. |
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•Work with your customer to create a data migration strategy. Storage hardware and software must be replaced over time. You should have a migration strategy to eventually replace all parts in your infrastructure, which may mean developing host, fabric or array-based migration product suites, depending on the level of interoperability of old and new kit. |
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In addition, as a channel partner you should consider the following: |
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•Clear product roadmaps: Have an understanding on your vendors' technology at least 18 months to two years ahead. After any consolidation, ask for a clear statement of new product direction. |
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•Migration tools and support: Offer customer assistance if you have to change your product line and move to a new technology. Agree to bake migration into the deal for future product purchases. |
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•Additional product interoperability: Ask vendors how they intend to provide additional interoperability among new product sets. For example, in a merger of two Fibre Channel switch manufacturers, the previously separate product lines should be supported in a single fabric. Use this information to help customers move forward in their consolidated environments. |
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You can't avoid the future, but you can take some simple steps to develop your own strategy for handling a vendor consolidation. |
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Chris M. Evans
