3PARdata is bigger, faster, cheaper, and much smarter than anything EMCs got, says James Berlino, storage analyst at Merrill Lynch & Co. Inc..
The smarter part is what makes 3PARdata hot: Its in the virtualization
software game. This new technology enables companies to interconnect incompatible
storage arrays from multiple vendors, so that applications view the
arrays as one giant pool of available storage. It comes in really handy for
large companies or service providers those that are expanding their storage
infrastructure fast because it means they can consolidate their existing
storage devices with new, best-of-breed hardware and still manage the whole
thing from one console.
3PARdata has plenty of competition here, though. Veritas Software is making a
lot of noise about this market, and several startups are writing
virtualization software, including Lefthand Networks,
Yotta Yotta, and Pirus Networks.
Its hot because its necessary, says Mark Cree, general manager of
the storage router business unit at
Cisco Systems Inc. (Nasdaq: CSCO). And its necessary from Ciscos point
of view as it helps the network grow, which means Cisco can sell more switches.
Incidentally, the word is that Ciscos investing in
3PARdata, but no sign of this yet (see All Eyes on Cisco).
Frankly, 3PAR needs the money. The company got a second round of funding
worth $16 million way back in May 2000. But it now has about 100 employees,
giving it an annual
burn rate of between $17.5 million and $22.5 million depending on how
much it's spending on frapuccinos. In other words, it's about to run out of
money. In fact, 3PARdata might be further up the list if it
werent for this financial uncertainty.