CMS reveals ambitions for plug-and-play sector
Vendor claims that plug-and-play storage appliances offer a "huge opportunity for the channel"
CMS Peripherals is to expand its distribution focus to cover plug-and-play storage appliances.
The distributor told CRN that it had already identified plug-and-play storage appliances as a potential up and coming hotspot for the market.
Astley Gayle, product manager for the UK and Ireland at CMS Peripherals, said that the technology would be applicable in areas such as NAS or iSCSI and could prove popular in the consumer and SME markets.
“We are looking at start-up appliance vendors focused on storage plug and play,” he said. “Clear execution for sales and marketing is needed to help these appliances develop. It is a huge opportunity for the channel.”
Gayle claimed that, according to an analyst’s global survey, there were 59 plug-and-play storage appliance start-up vendors in existence last year. He speculated that by the end of this year, that number could have risen into triple digits.
Andy Cordial, director at Origin Storage Solutions, told CRN: “We have plug-and-play NAS boxes available which are popular with SMEs. It reduces the requirement for technical expertise in setup and maintenance, while giving the benefits of a NAS box.”
Eric Sheppard, research manager for European storage systems at IDC, told CRN that plug-and-play storage appliance technology would need both the technological and financial support from a Microsoft-size equivalent vendor to get it off the ground.
“A lot of SMEs use a simple storage setup and if VARs want to increase their low-end storage capacity then plug-and-play storage appliances could certainly help,” he said. “The home office space will be the biggest adopter of this technology. It is a sector that is growing and looking for simple yet efficient setup and usage of technologies, which plug-and-play [storage] would suit.”