Gabriel Consulting Unveils Key Findings of 2010 x86 Server Vendor Research
Data Center Customers Weigh In on Major x86 Vendors’ Technology, Solutions and Innovation
BEAVERTON, Oregon – Feb. 23, 2011 — Gabriel Consulting Group (GCG), an independent analyst firm, today released key findings of its fourth annual 2010 x86 Server Vendor Preference survey, a report focused on vendor selection trends among 199 enterprise data center managers responsible for data centers of all sizes.
Key findings from the ‘Vendor Face-Off: Solutions’ section of the survey include:
- Enterprise IT customers chose Oracle as the vendor most focused on solutions, not just making sales.
- IBM was seen as the company best able to put together complex projects and support customers’ virtualization and consolidation efforts.
- Dell won ‘Strongest Windows Capability,’ with past winner HP a close second, while IBM took the ‘Strongest Linux Capability’ honors.
“Back in the 90s and early 00s, it was all about customers selecting ‘best of breed’ products and integrating them into workable solutions custom-designed to address their business problems. The cost and complexity of this approach led to customers deciding that they’d rather have vendors handle solution integration, and be able to hold a single vendor accountable for problems – which we call the ‘single throat to choke’ era. Vendors have been busily working to build more and more solution packages and to make a name for themselves in various vertical or horizontal markets,” said Dan Olds, Principal Analyst at GCG.
“According to our x86 respondents, Oracle seems most concerned about the solution itself rather than just pushing boxes. But IBM wins as the best for pulling off big and complex projects, and anything concerning Linux. Dell is seen as the number one Windows system vendor, followed fairly closely by HP.”
In the “Data Center Value” section of the survey, customer responses were mixed. HP and IBM were selected as best in helping increase IT efficiency, but Oracle was seen as the leader in lowering TCO and providing the best overall value for customers’ money. However, there were a significant number of customers (roughly a third) who said all the vendors were the same on these measures, or that they weren’t sure who was ahead currently.
The survey also asks data center personnel to evaluate the major vendors’ level of innovation in x86. When asked which company has the greatest desire to innovate, customers chose HP; in 2009, Oracle (then Sun) won by a wide margin. However, when asked which vendor has the ability to innovate – actually bring new technology to market – respondents chose IBM.
Data Center respondents who chose a leader in Technology and R & D chose IBM. But on some of the questions in this category, a significant number of respondents didn’t see a lot of differentiation between vendors. Oracle finished a very strong second on ‘Technological Capability and R&D Prowess,’ and overall, HP held its own in comparison to past surveys.
“There’s an interesting divide on some of the innovation categories in the survey this year. While customers see HP as the vendor most interested in pushing x86 development, they see IBM as the vendor who is best able to deliver. We think that IBM’s system introductions in early 2010 definitely had an impact on customer perceptions of IBM’s level of x86 innovation,” said Olds. “Dell’s innovation scores rose considerably in this edition of the survey, doubling on some categories. This is quite a change, given that customers traditionally see Dell as a technology follower rather than a leader.”
GCG is also releasing findings from other sections of the 2010 x86 Server Vendor Preference survey. More information and detailed results are available here. Follow Dan Olds on Twitter @danolds.
About Gabriel Consulting Group
Gabriel Consulting Group is a research, analysis, and consulting firm dedicated to helping clients achieve maximum return on their Information Technology investment.
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Contact: Dan Olds
503-372-9389 Office
503-730-5072 Mobile