In November the company will cease delivery of the NetWin 110 and 200 boxes that it began selling two years ago. EMC will fill the gap by reselling NAS servers made by as yet un-named third parties, via its Select reselling program.
EMC will not say how many NetWin boxes it has sold, but admits that it has had a tough time competing with volume server makers in a low-end NAS market that suffers notoriously thin margins, and involves little or no software value-add.
The company’s first Windows-powered NAS effort was the NetWin 200. Right from the launch of that box in 2003, EMC was sensitive about its uncompetitive price. EMC’s pricing and positioning was also complicated by a need to avoid competition with the NAS products sold by Dell.
Perhaps feeling a little humiliated by its retreat from the sector, the company yesterday insisted that it was not pulling out of the market, but was simply reworking its supply lines to provide customers with better pricing.
It would not say which vendors’ Windows-powered NAS it will resell, but made it clear that there will be more than one. As an existing partner of EMC, Dell is a likely candidate.
EMC claimed that two years ago it had little choice but to launch its NetWin boxes. It said it was compelled to include low-end Windows NAS in its portfolio, but until last summer had no mechanism by which it could resell other vendors’ products.
The argument about the need to offer Windows NAS is backed up by the example of IBM. IBM abandoned the Windows NAS market in 2003, but was forced to re-enter it this summer, when it also announced a plan to OEM mid-range and high-end NAS gear from Network Appliance.
Launched in August 2004, EMC’s Select program covers a range of third-party products that customers are likely to use with EMC’s gear. It involves products from over a dozen suppliers such as tape libraries from ADIC, encryption appliances from NetApp-Decru, and HBAs from Emulex.
EMC takes the orders for these tested and certified products, and so simplifies life for customers by providing one-stop shopping. The original makers of the gear fulfill the orders and support the products.
