NetApp seems to be getting ready to try to force some more customers to upgrade when they don’t have to. In tough economic times many companies are trying to extend the life of their storage and infrastructure assets, but that does not fit in with NetApp’s game plan. They sell boxes, and they need to sell more, so upgrades are being sold.
” The 3020, a smaller and older array than the 3140, will be end-of-lifed soon though, reducing the number of models in the FAS range by one and, we could read it this way, creating a space in the range for a new mid-range model.”
Zerowait understands that many customers are having a hard time currently, and we are working with them to try to keep their storage running at a cost they can afford. NetApp takes a different view of customers that are having trouble because of the financial shakeout.
Daniel J. Warmenhoven, CEO of data storage company NetApp (NTAP) (formerly Network Appliance), counts himself lucky that neither Lehman nor AIG was a big customer (though Lehman did take the company public). He says tech spending is holding up so far—in part because it lowers operating costs. “The analysts are always ‘woe is me,’ because their industry is getting hammered,” says Warmenhoven. “Well, go cry in your own beer. Don’t ruin mine.”
We look forward to helping the folks at AIG and Lehman, or the companies that acquire their storage assets, and we know that we can support their NetApp infrastructures at a cost they can afford for many years to come.