I recently attended the IBM PartnerWorld Leadership Conference 2015 at the Cosmopolitan Hotel in Las Vegas, NV. While I was there, I had the chance to speak with a couple of IBM execs about the company’s plans for the future, and how they view the SMB opportunity.
My first meeting was with Laura Guio (pictured), Vice President and Storage Business Line Executive, IBM Systems. Laura managed the overall investment and strategic direction of IBM, and she had some very interesting things to say about the current tech environment. Read on for our interview:
H: So, what are you announcing at the event?
Laura:
As far as the conference goes, we aren’t really announcing anything new, so much as really focusing on the topics we’ve been hitting over the past 6 months.
I’d like to touch on some key points, though:
- Flash Technology: We are seeing this technology come down to an SMB price point. I would encourage those who shuffled flash off in the past as an “enterprise/Fortune500” tech to take another look. It’s definitely becoming something for them to consider.
- Software Defined Storage: Now this is interesting, especially in the SMB space. It’s taking the smarts and capabilities of storage, and enabling the customer to run it on architecture they have, provided that it’s compatible. Virtualization is a key use here. On the IBM side, we have our StorWise Product line, which we started about 5 years ago. Our team recognized a trend of huge systems, and we wanted to develop a smaller line for the smaller end of organizations.
- LTO technology: Desktop tape devices. I have actually seen this leveraged as affordable backup in the Asian markets.
H: So with the Software Defined Storage, is this NAS or SAN?
Laura: This is a SAN scenario, primarily Block, though it depends on the model.
H: Are you the manufacturer, or do you use OEM?
Laura: We OEM the disk and frame that goes into it, but it’s not like an OEM agreement. We really focus on selling this as a total system to the customer.
H: What would some SMB use examples be?
Laura: I can really see this being used in a small retail outlet.
H: Are you positioning this as a BDR solution?
Laura: That can certainly be one use of it. The BDR space is evolving over time, especially in SMB, and not many realize that Backup and Archive are two very different things.
H: Can you explain a bit?
Laura: Sure. I think of Backup as the insurance policy, while Archiving is data putting in a secondary site, to have access to it later. Recovery from archiving is slower, can be more used for compliance than anything.
H: How does a channel partner work with you in this sense? Do you have a subscription model?
Laura: We don’t actually offer it as a service, rather, we offer it to the client to leverage within their own data center. IBM works to build technologies that are very user-friendly within a cloud-type environment.
On an interesting note, over 80% of the sales activity I see in my division is through the Channel. Our partner community is key to my business. We actually have Storage Partners, who are IBMers, that help our partners get access to the marketing resources and incentive programs they need to succeed.
So there you have it. Laura also ended our conversation on a bit of a cliffhanger note, telling me to watch for some exciting news to come out of IBM within the next couple of months.
