EMC Eyes SMB Push

2:45 PM -- Now that it has launched its high-end Symmetrix and midrange Clariion SANs this year, EMC is ready to beef up its SMB product line. (See EMC Makes Good on DMX-3 and EMC Uncages 4-Gig Clariions.)

CEO Joe Tucci emphasized the importance of the low-end on EMC's earnings call today in between explaining why inventory problems have dragged down Symmetrix sales. (See Tucci: EMC's Problems 'Self-Induced'.) Tucci says EMC's Clariion AX150 system has been popular among customers, but one system isn't enough of an arsenal for the fast-growing, entry-level storage space. (See EMC Upgrades SMB SANs.)

"We have a single product at the low end of the market and that's not sufficient," Tucci said. "To really get the potential of what this SMB market can do, we need a product family. And that's coming. Hang in there, in six months or so we're going to rock the world there. It is our goal to be leader in low-end storage, too, not only on the high-end and mid-tier."

Tucci did not get into product specifics, but pointed to EMC agreements with Intel and NEC to develop lower-end systems, "and I guarantee you there's a bigger brother coming to the AX150." (See 360Networks Builds Out 20K Miles.) The AX150 tops out at 6 Tbytes. (See SNW: Small, SAS-sy & Safe.)

EMC has had SMB systems for more than two years but competition in the low end is clearly heating up with NetApp's newly launched StoreVault platform and low-end storage boxes based on Microsoft's Windows Storage Server 2003 R2. (See EMC, Dell Get Small With SATA, {docink 97908}, and Microsoft Opens iSCSI Window.)