Storage Resource Mismanagement

5:00 PM -- What excuse could there be for the current lack of products that manage multivendor storage networks?

A glance at the record reveals the following:

• Widely adopted interfaces for managing multiple vendors' storage devices from one system don't exist.
• Such interfaces require the cooperation of storage system vendors, including EMC, HP, IBM, NetApp, and Sun, to name a few.
• Storage vendors aren't committed to creating standard interfaces.

It's my conviction that if suppliers wanted multivendor management, we'd have it. Oh, they've gone through the motions. Indeed, storage firms are notorious for starting specs projects as a marketing strategy. Everyone plays along for the free PR before things simply evaporate. By that time, the effort's been largely forgotten, so there's no one to blame. (See Standard Response, Remaining Relevant, Strange Fascination With Aperi, and Aperi's Seeds of Revolution.)

Vendors simply don't want to make it easy for competitors to manage their wares. The issue is deeper than giving up a bit of software revenue. After all, management has traditionally been a tiny portion of the profits for any vendor. But management equals control, and if one concedes it to others -- worse, one's market rivals -- what happens to delivering an inside track on integration and services to customers?

Do you agree? Disagree? Weigh in on our latest SRM poll. Or vent your spleen on the message board below. We'd love to get your take.