IBM challenges EMC in bid for storage crown

IBM has thrown down the gauntlet to EMC in the race for the number one spot in the storage market with the release of its latest enterprise product and the $240m acquisition of Mylex.

As part of IBM's San initiative, the hardware manufacturer has introduced an enterprise storage server, Shark, to help it win back the market share it has lost to EMC. IBM used to be the leading player in the data storage market but has lost direction and been overtaken by more focused companies during the past three years.

Shark is being touted as a multi-platform machine, supporting S/390, Unix, NT and AS/400. While IBM expects the number of resellers that support the product to increase, qualifying to sell it will be tougher for resellers.

Tony Woolcott, EMEA storage channel operations manager at IBM, said: "We need to be confident that our partners will have the expertise to sell this product, so we will be looking for the greater knowledge that selling a multi-platform product entails. However, with the product attaching to NT servers, the opportunities for the reseller are potentially enormous."

The product will be available from 24 September and training courses for partners wishing to sell Shark have started.

IBM also revealed that it will purchase Mylex, which develops storage technology for use in desktop and network environments. Mylex shares are to be bought at $12 each, and the company will become a wholly-owned subsidiary of Big Blue.

The acquisition is intended to widen IBM's range of data storage products and help it deliver a broader range of products to its OEM storage customers.