HP, Sun, IBM: And the Winner is …

ORLANDO – As new product waves and innovative technologies roll across
the IT landscape, it can be tempting for IT shops to switch horses or least
consider another technology provider.

Three Gartner distinguished analysts, here at the company’s conference, tackled the question of which of the leading enterprise technology
providers has the best portfolio of software, services and hardware.

The premise of the session was to answer the question of which of the big
three computer giants, IBM, Sun and HP will “win.” But no winner was
declared. Far from it, each of the analysts qualified their statements,
discussed the unique needs different enterprises have and generally punted
on the question of who was best.

They were more definitive about why IBM, Sun and HP were being discussed as the top tech portfolio companies to the exclusion of others. Gartner’s David Cearley said he didn’t think Dell had a broad enough mix of products and services.

“I don’t they’re a top portfolio company, with some hardware products,” said Cearley. “You have to look at multiple anchor points and that’s not Dell.” For the record, Dell does have a services operation but it doesn’t have anything comparable to the other three
company’s broad investment in software.

Just today, HP upped the ante by announcing an HP Unified Communications
portfolio of products and services. HP says the portfolio brings together voice, fax,
email, voicemail, video/data/audio conferencing, collaboration, wireless and
mobile technologies to improve the way individuals and groups work together,
regardless of where they are located or the devices being used.

A potential up-and-comer that could find its way on the list is Cisco, a
partner in HP’s announcement. “If someone breaks into the top three it could
be Cisco,” said Cearley. He noted the networking giant has broadened its
portfolio with numerous acquisitions, including WebEx, though he thinks it
has to get stronger on the professional services side to be considered a top
portfolio player.

Microsoft was also mentioned as having a potential trump card. “Microsoft
has been showing a more creative view toward open source than they used
to,” said Gartner’s George Weis. “If they directed the company to more open
source realms as they are now, and if the OS itself becomes modularized or
open in certain ways, it would create a whole new landscape.” He said such a
move by Microsoft would be “courageous.”

In general terms, the analysts discussed the pros and cons of sticking with
one vendor or another, noting none of them have all the solutions and
virtually all enterprises feature a mixed or multi-vendor environment to
some degree.

This article was first published on InternetNews.com. To read the full article, click here.

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