Cisco: IBM-Brocade Deal is Targeting HP

Yesterday we noted IBM's decision to resell Brocade's Foundry networking gear, adding that "the move is widely seen as a response to the decision by IBM partner Cisco Systems to enter the blade server market." Not so, according to Cisco's Bill Marozas, who says industry pundits have jumped to an erroneous conclusion.

"In reality, it’s an anti-HP strategy," Marozas writes on Cisco's Data Center Networks blog. "IBM needed to counter HP’s Data Center strategy and broader DC portfolio offering and Brocade/Foundry gave them what they needed: An OEM deal through which IBM can now resell its own branded ethernet gear vs. ProCurve in accounts.  The Cisco-IBM SAN (MDS 9000 Family of products) relationship remains strong." Information Week agrees that HP is the target, but plenty of othersthink Cisco is in Big Blue's crosshairs.