Converged infrastructure set to dominate in Q4

Speed and ease of deployment are top drivers in the move to converged infrastructure, according to a new study which shows 40% of enterprise IT users will increase spending on converged infrastructure over the next 90 days.

That figure compares with just 17% planning to increase spending on traditional servers, cited in 451 Research's inaugural Voice of the Enterprise: Converged Infrastructure.

Nikolay Yamakawa, 451 Research senior analyst, says commoditisation of x86 systems is catalysing as decision-makers increasingly consider alternatives, including whit-box servers.

"A growing opportunity exists for those vendors who can position their offerings to address key customer needs," Yamakawa says.

The study shows 43% of customers identified ease/speed of deployment and integration as the top benefits of converged infrastructure. Lack of in-house expertise was the biggest inhibitor, cited as a deterrent to adoption by 41% of respondents.

"The study indicates that one way to ease the transition into the converged space is to identify the gaps in internal skillsets and work with potential vendors to organise the training and proof-of-concept exercise prior to implementation," Yamakawa says.

"Some enterprises can make the transition smoother by evaluating those applications and workloads that will be shifted to ensure compatibility," he adds.

When it comes to brands, HP ConvergedSystem, Dell Converged Solutions and NetApp FlexPd are rating 'most favourably' among customers in the converged infrastructure space, but EMC's VCE Vblock leads in adoption among converged infrastructure vendors.

On the standard server side, the study shows 52% of standard server customers are using HP Proliant, with Dell PowerEdge used by 50%. Dell PowerEdge also captured the highest customer ratings, standing out for its product competitiveness and roadmap, ease of management, total cost of ownership and sales force quality. 451 Research says the HP Proliant gained favourable ratings in performance optimisation, ease of deployment/integration, company brand and reputation.

Cisco UCS is currently the third-most-cited vendor in use, 451 Research says, with 33.9% of respondents reporting Cisco implementations and another 19.3% considering Cisco as an alternative.

Cisco also remains prevalent in the converged infrastructure space. With 25.2% of respondents citing Cisco as a vendor. Meanwhile VCE Vblock and NetApp FlexPod, which captured the highest adoption rates among respondents, both run Cisco UCS server components as part of their converged infrastructure platforms.

The research company says an array of newer and incumbent vendors are also starting to gain traction in hyperconverged offerings, adding more fuel to the competitive fire.

Adoption of white-box servers is also growing with 4% of enterprises having installed white-box servers and another 6% considering a switch to the unbranded servers from their current standard server vendor.