Hewlett-Packard Co will no longer resell EMC Corp’s Symmetrix storage subsystems as the two yesterday ended their agreement, a relationship which goes back to 1995. HP decided to dump EMC as its preferred enterprise storage supplier in favor of Hitachi Data Systems Ltd last month.
HP is selling the HDS arrays under its own label as the SureStore E MC256. HP says it had hoped to continue to sell Symmetrix systems alongside the HDS-sourced systems so that customers had a choice of storage products. Like in Unix, it sees the value proposition for storage is choice. HP said its plan met with a deafening silence from EMC. HP says EMC told it the HDS deal was a problem and they decided to end the agreement.
HP says its Symmetrix customers will continue to receive support and maintenance and that it is discussing plans with EMC to continue co-development efforts so that customers using Symmetrix in HP’s high-availability programs, including Mission Critical Server Suites, are supported.
Although HP and EMC inked a new three-year reseller agreement in January, it was clear that HP ultimately wanted to sell highly lucrative storage arrays under its own brand and on non-HP platforms. Storage is estimated to account for up to 65% of total system cost. Under the reseller deal with EMC, HP could only sell Symmetrix for use on HP platforms; EMC sold it elsewhere.
HP says sales of the MC256 have exceeded expectations – although it admits it would have made more sales with EMC systems – and has begun selling into non-HP sites. HP says the value of its HDS sales is higher because it is an OEM partnership and not a reseller arrangement. EMC sales formerly represented between 40% and 50% of HP’s storage sales. Sales to HP customers were projected to make up some $1bn of EMC’s anticipated $5.1bn revenue this year. EMC believes it can make more money selling directly to HP customers than under their current agreement, and that its attach rate to HP systems will rise once its own sales force gets on to the job.
