It is clear that the continued adoption of server virtualization among enterprises is an important catalyst of growth for the entire IT industry. In fact, we are now seeing indications of virtualization impacting higher-tier servers and applications in the core of large enterprise data centers. This is an important trend for data center networking providers such as Brocade. While virtualization has delivered certain cost efficiencies, it has actually created further complexity to IT/data center architectures. Remedies for this are highly efficient, high-performance and ultra-highly reliable networking solutions as access from virtual machines to data and storage becomes paramount. Brocade has long recognized this need and has been engineering networking solutions that are optimized for use with virtualization. Since 2009, our FCoE (Fibre Channel over Ethernet) solutions—such as the Brocade 8000 FCoE Switch, 10-24 FCoE Blade for the Brocade DCX Backbone and our 1010/1020 Converged Network Adapters— have been among the leaders in this trend. Last year, we introduced server application optimization technology, which provides network administrators unprecedented levels of visibility into virtual environments from their SANs. And most recently, we introduced the Brocade Application Resource Broker for the Brocade ADX Layer 4-7 application delivery products to improve visibility in and control over virtual environments from the network at an application level. I recently met with 250 global channel partners and 25 of EMEA’s top CIOs, who are applauding our solutions that offer simplicity and cost savings to networking customers. Their message is clear—they cannot deal with the complexity that is happening, especially given the increased volume in data, traffic and applications. More and more, Brocade is considered a trusted advisor as they look for a better alternative to their current network vendor. According to Gartner, there will be $170 billion wasted on the wrong networking technologies this year. CIOs and partners are turning to us because they cannot afford to bet on the wrong horse in this networking race. Looking forward, Brocade will introduce more exciting networking innovations that address the needs created by virtualization. In fact, we will be hosting our annual Technology Day on June 9 in New York, where we will discuss many of these innovations in much greater depth. Financial analysts who have not received an invitation to attend in person should contact our IR department at ir@brocade.com. Industry analysts and trade and business media should contact our PR department at pr@brocade.com . |