Compaq, IBM Announce Investments in Storage Networking Initiative; Industry Leaders To Propel Interoperability, Open Industry Standards.Business/Technology Editors NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 6, 2000 Compaq Computer Corporation (company) Compaq Computer Corporation - The largest US manufacturer and vendor of IBM PC compatible personal computers and servers. Compaq was started in 1982 by three ex-Texas Instruments employees. Quarterly sales $2499M, profits $210M (Aug 1994). http://compaq.com/. (NYSE NYSE See: New York Stock Exchange :CPQ CPQ Compaq CPQ Conseil du Patronat du Québec (Canada) CPQ Configure-Price-Quote CPQ Conseil de Presse du Québec (Québec Press Council, Canada) CPQ Companion Parrot Quarterly ) and IBM (International Business Machines Corporation, Armonk, NY, www.ibm.com) The world's largest computer company. IBM's product lines include the S/390 mainframes (zSeries), AS/400 midrange business systems (iSeries), RS/6000 workstations and servers (pSeries), Intel-based servers (xSeries) (NYSE:IBM) today announced a strategic agreement to accelerate customer acceptance of open storage networking solutions. Both companies are committed to interoperability of each company's storage hardware and software, and will also sell significant products from each other's storage portfolios. The total of investments currently planned by the companies could exceed $1 billion. Compaq and IBM will work to help ensure their storage products work seamlessly together. Further, the companies will share their knowledge with the industry to help create standards for open storage networking solutions such as Storage Area Networks (SANs), making storage networks more flexible and easier to deploy and manage. "With the explosion of e-business and consumer demand for anytime-anywhere products and services, storage plays an increasingly vital role in our customers' Internet infrastructure," said Howard Elias, vice president and general manager of Compaq's Storage Global Business Unit. "This agreement assures both companies' customers of a complete portfolio of critical storage technologies that will work seamlessly with future Compaq and IBM products The following is a list of products from the International Business Machines (IBM) Corporation and its predecessor corporations, beginning in the 1890s, and spanning punched card machinery, time clocks, and typewriters, via mainframe computers and minicomputers, to microprocessors, PCs, ." Both companies commit to driving interoperability with their respective software and hardware. Under terms of the deal, Compaq will augment its portfolio with IBM's "Shark" Enterprise Storage Servers and select Tivoli systems management software A comprehensive suite of applications from IBM subsidiary Tivoli Systems, Inc., Austin, TX (www.ibm.com/tivoli) that provides enterprise-wide network and systems management across all platforms from IBM mainframes to desktop PCs. . IBM will augment its portfolio with Compaq StorageWorks(TM) Modular Array storage systems and software, which will include IBM 10,000 RPM hard disk drives. IBM will support Compaq's VersaStor(TM) technology for storage SAN-wide virtualization An umbrella term for enhancing a computer's ability to do work. Following are the ways virtualization is used. Hardware Virtualization Partitioning the computer's memory into separate and isolated "virtual machines" simulates multiple machines within one physical computer. . "Today's announcements are a game-changing play," said Linda Sanford, general manager, IBM Storage Subsystems Division. "Delivering true interoperability across our storage products - and open standards Specifications for hardware and software that are developed by a standards organization or a consortium involved in supporting a standard. Available to the public for developing compliant products, open standards imply "open systems;" that an existing component in a system can be replaced for the storage industry - will benefit all customers through greater choice and flexibility, ease of use, and increased speed to deployment. Vendors who continue to promote proprietary systems and standards will find themselves increasingly isolated." The agreement between the two computer technology leaders underscores the crucial role that storage plays in the future of the Internet and successful e-business. Storage technology has come front and center to change the way companies access and use information to gain a competitive edge in the marketplace. IDC Consulting projects that worldwide revenue for disk storage systems and storage management software will total $53 billion by 2003. Nick Allen Nick Allen (born Artemus Ward Allen on September 14, 1888 in Norton, Kansas; died October 16, 1939 in Hines, Illinois) was a catcher in Major League Baseball. Teams
Each company plans to provide equipment, software and staffing to support each other's open storage networking/SAN customer centers. At these centers, customers can see for themselves the interoperability of both companies' technologies and products where real-world testing demonstrates the value of open storage networking solutions. "The networked storage industry took a giant step forward towards open standards, plug-and-play interoperability, any-to-any connectivity and storage virtualization Treating storage as a single logical entity without regard to the hierarchy of physical media that may be involved or that may change. It enables the applications to read from and write to a single pool of storage rather then individual disks, tapes and optical devices. as Compaq and IBM announced a multi-year collaboration and cross-OEM agreement for storage hardware, software, services and solutions," said John McArthur John McArthur (November 17, 1826 – May 15, 1906) was a Union general during the American Civil War. McArthur was born in Erskine, Scotland. He learned to be a blacksmith and emigrated to the United States at age 23 and settled in Chicago. , vice president, Storage Research, IDC. "The companies recognize that cooperation on open standards and interoperability best serve the interests of both parties as well as the larger networked storage community. The companies have hit the bulls-eye, but the real winners are the customers." About Compaq Compaq Computer Corporation, a Fortune Global 100 company, is the largest supplier of computing systems in the world. Compaq designs, develops, manufactures and markets hardware, software, solutions, and services, including industry-leading enterprise computing Refers to information technology in the larger company. See enterprise data and enterprise networking. solutions, fault-tolerant business-critical solutions, and communications products, commercial desktop and portable products, and consumer PCs. Compaq products and services are sold in more than 200 countries directly to businesses, through a network of authorized Compaq marketing partners, and directly to businesses and consumers through Compaq's e-commerce Web site at http://www.compaq.com. Compaq markets its products and services primarily to customers from the business, home, government, and education sectors. Customer support and information about Compaq and its products and services are available at http://www.compaq.com. About IBM IBM is the world's largest information technology provider (hardware, software and services) with 1999 revenues of more than $87 billion and is the worldwide leader in e-business solutions. The company has more than 300,000 employees and does business in more than 160 countries. For more information on IBM, please visit www.ibm.com. This press release may contain forward-looking statements forward-looking statement A projected financial statement based on management expectations. A forward-looking statement involves risks with regard to the accuracy of assumptions underlying the projections. based on current expectations that involve a number of risks and uncertainties. The potential risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially include: delays in the implementation of changes in delivery models, increased competitive environment and pricing pressures, delays in product roll out schedules, component shortages, slow acceptance for new form factors, employee retention, disruptions related to restructuring actions, the financial condition of resellers, delays in new systems implementation, operational inefficiencies related to sales cycles, equity investment volatility, and emerging market political or economic instability. Further information on the factors that could affect Compaq or IBM's financial results is included in their respective Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filings, including the latest Annual Report on form 10-K Form 10-K A report required by the SEC from exchange-listed companies that provides for annual disclosure of certain financial information. Form 10-K See 10-K. and the latest Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q Form 10-Q See 10-Q. . |
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