VCE is clear leader in converged systems - Gartner

Gartner has ranked VCE as the clear leader in the converged systems space, with only FlexPod and Oracle providing any semblance of a threat.

The analyst has produced a Magic Quadrant report that gives the VMware, Cisco, and EMC alliance breathing space as the foremost player in the top-right square. And it gets even better for Cisco, as its FlexPod initiative with NetApp emerges as VCE's chief competitor, somewhat ahead of Oracle.

The trio are the only three ranked in the Leaders section of the graph, with giants HP, IBM, and Dell being classed as Visionaries – which Gartner considers to be players who have a well-formed technological vision, but fall short in their ability to execute. Nutanix and SimpliVity also feature in the bottom-right quadrant.

In the Challengers section in the top left there is only Teradata, and directly below Fujitsu, HDS, Huawei and Unisys are considered Niche Players. The report claims that the integration of server, storage, and networking kit "is a young market".

The analyst says that VCE has the edge over its fellow Cisco-based system because of "the active promotion of the Cisco, VMware and EMC alliance, and the strong factory integration capabilities that help to differentiate the Vblock product".

"However, the Cisco-NetApp FlexPod solution has also gained much ground recently, helped by the work that both vendors have done to prove FlexPod as a true integrated system, rather than a pure reference architecture," adds the report.

The Magic Quadrant can be seen below. Click here to register to receive the full report.

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