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Rewind, Please

4:00 -- On Friday, Network Appliance Inc. (Nasdaq: NTAP) issued a stunningly wordy press release titled "Network Appliance Builds Framework for Seamless Consolidation and Management of Remote Office Data for Cisco Wide Area File Services." (See NetApp Supports Cisco WAFS.) Here's a brief snippet:

  • We are pleased to collaborate with Cisco to deliver an industry-leading WAFS solution for increased data protection in remote offices,” said Patrick Rogers, vice president of Products and Partners at Network Appliance. “Our interoperability and support collaboration demonstrates a shared focus on solving new and emerging enterprise data challenges, not only at a corporate headquarters or data center, but also for remote customer locations and for various types of data.”

Six months ago, here's what NetApp CEO Dan Warmenhoven said in the wake of Cisco's WAFS alliance with EMC Corp. (NYSE: EMC). (See NetApp Revs Up, Maybe Peaking.):

  • “It seems to have speculative impact from a lot of people, but we think it’s fairly minimal,” he said, noting that the wide area file services (WAFS) appliance that Cisco brings to the deal has a tiny market share. "There's a very small customer community interested in [WAFS]," he said. "We see it as very nichey."
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