NetApp nudges in on EMC turf

Network Appliance has cut in on rival EMC after the storage vendor headhunted two EMC executives and signed up EMC partner SecureData to supply its range of network-attached storage (NAS) products.

As part of the agreement, SecureData will supply Network Appliance's range of NAS products, which are primarily aimed at the mid-to-high end of the market. The storage integrator also supplies rival EMC's range of storage area network (SAN) products, which, as SecureData's managing director Evan Penn hastened to add, complements NetApp's NAS products nicely. But as it turns out, SecureData also supplies EMC's SAN products, creating an overlap.

Penn said that as a result of SecureData's inclusion of the NetApp product range, EMC had expressed concern that its market share and mind share would be diluted. He conceded that this was probably true, but that the company's first priority is to offer its customers the best fit for their business needs.

EMC Asia-Pacific president Gary Jackson said that he was unperturbed by Network Appliance's appointment of SecureData, saying that EMC has a number of other integration partners that supply its products, which play a more critical role in terms of generating revenue for the company.

"We don't work with SecureData exclusively and the company is not one of our largest contributors of revenue in Australia," he said. "I won't say it'll have no impact on us, but if it does it will be very minimal."

To head up NetApp's partnership drive, the company has snared EMC's former national channel manager Ian Hamilton. The vendor hopes to leverage the strong channel relationships Hamilton has developed during his 10-year stint at EMC. Network Appliance also recently appointed EMC's former northern region sales manager Ray Dearlove.

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