The disk array deal between IBM Corp and Storage Technology Corp is widely seen to be a move to counter the market dominance of EMC Corp. However, EMC’s managing director for Europe John Clerk couldn’t be less worried: If you combine two loss-making divisions, you still have a loss-making division, he told us caustically. He added that the move was an admission of failure on both sides, and that StorageTek needed the deal to enable it to get to grips with its debt burden. He declared firmly that if IBM had come to EMC offering a similar deal, it would not have been interested.
