Working up a competitive analysis is a good thing

How would you position BlueArc NAS in comparison with NetApp, HP and Microsoft powered NAS? BlueArc seems to have a strong marketing message on speed. What about all the other factors in investing in a NAS box such as management tools, snaps, backup, support, etc.?

    Requires Free Membership to View

    Login

BlueArc is relatively new in the NAS market. They certain are aggressive in their marketing message about performance.

You need to look at all the factors that are important to you in making an informed decision. The best way to go about this is to make a list of your requirements and then make a list of the features/functions/capabilities for a NAS device. Take that list and start filling it in from either your own research or from a company that does competitive analysis.

Some analyst companies will give you the list (we call it a workbook) of questions to ask/investigate that can make your job much easier. If you don't do that competitive analysis, they you'll just be subject to a vendor marketing barrage which may not be in your best interest to believe.

So, rather than make specific analysis on the vendors you asked about (we do that as part of our competitive database that people pay for), I would recommend you do the homework to enable you to be armed with the information to make an intelligent decision. If you don't know what you need, it's very difficult to make a decision or for anyone to make a recommendation.

Randy Kerns
Evaluator Group, Inc.

Editor's note: Do you agree with this expert's response? If you have more to share, post it in one of our .bphAaR2qhqA^0@/searchstorage>discussion forums.


This was first published in May 2003

Join the conversationComment

Share
Comments

    Results

    Contribute to the conversation

    All fields are required. Comments will appear at the bottom of the article.
    Back to top