IBM Storwize V7000 – a return to form for IBM?

I took some time out of my schedule to attend the storage launch of IBM’s latest and greatest mid-range

storage virtualisation product at the Tate Modern Museum in London last week. I was curious to see what was behind all this new marketing steam train of a new era in storage management. IBM hasn’t exactly set the world on fire over the course of the last number of years in the storage mid-range market, opting to OEM other technologies as part of the brand rather than develop their own IP. After all, IBM is a services company these days you know!

In a very low-key (squashed!) setting, there was a plethora of build up storage updates and announcements leading up to the new storage launch. After a short mid-stream break to waken up the sleepy audience, it was onto the big announcement of the day – the IBM Storwize V7000. The presentation was over in a flash, and even through Barry Whyte was on hand to give a hands-on demo of the new “child's play” management interface – the whole affair was a bit lacklustre – however, there was enough content to make us all sit up and listen as to what IBM was doing in this space. As an avid researcher and follower of trends in the data storage market, it's rare enough that a new storage product gets me excited – but this one did!