Sources: Fujitsu Siemens Eyeing Exanet

Clustered NAS specialist Exanet is rumored to be an acquisition target for Fujitsu Siemens, according to reports in the Israeli media.

The startup, which competes with NetApp, Isilon, and BlueArc, could become the latest Israeli storage vendor to get snapped up by a big-name firm, says the Globes Website, following the recent acquisitions of Diligent, FilesX, and XIV by Fujitsus rival IBM.

Pacific Growth Equities analyst Kaushik Roy discussed a possible Fujitsu/Exanet deal in a report on NetApp last week: “We are concerned that NetApp’s second largest OEM customer Fujitsu Siemens may buy high-end NAS vendor Exanet, which would be incrementally negative for NetApp,” he wrote. “If they do not buy privately held Exanet, we believe Fujitsu Siemens might at least resell Exanet’s high-end NAS solution.”

Fujitsu Siemens has traditionally turned to OEM partners such as LSI and ADIC for the core technologies behind its storage offerings, although Taneja group analyst Arun Taneja feels that the vendor is currently shifting its focus.

“I have not heard of anything in particular [about an Exanet acquisition], but I would not be surprised if Fujitsu Siemens did something like that,” Taneja says. “Historically, they have been something of a reseller or OEM, but there is an increasing vigor within the company, and it is my belief that they have a desire to be a developer of things, not just a reseller.”The analyst also highlighted the growing popularity of clustered NAS products, such as Exanet’s flagship ExaStore offering. “Clearly that whole scale-out NAS segment of the market is ripe for expansion,” he says.

The last few months have been busy for Exanet, which recently unveiled a new CEO and more than $10 million in new funding. Based in Jersey City, New Jersey, and Ra'anana, Israel, Exanet also entered the hardware arena with a NAS server and storage arrays running its flagship ExaStore software.

Exanet claims more than 100 customers, including Nokia and French Telecom giant TF1. It has racked up $70 million in funding since it was founded in 2000.

An Exanet spokeswoman denied that a deal between the two companies is underway. "There are no conversations and discussions of any kind," she says.

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