Analysis

posted on 22 February 2008 14:09

EMC has issued a release saying it is a leader in the virtual tape library market according to a Forrester Wave report.

The numbers I have access to suggest that EMC is actually number three:

- IBM - 5,400+
- Sun/STK - 4,000+
- EMC - 1,100+

But the EMC Disk Library actually uses FalconStor's VTL software, and so does Sun for its non-mainframe VTL products and so does IBM and so does HDS and so does Copan. So in hardware unit ship terms IBM is the lader and in VTL SW terms FalconStor is the leader.

EMC quotes this Forrester statement in its release: ""Given that the EMC Disk Library has been available in the market for more than three years, it has the largest installed customer base of any vendor..."

This is obviously not true if it refers to actual VTL units. It might be true if it refers to something else though..

If we look at Forrester's own summary of its report we find this:-

"Forrester evaluated 12 virtual tape library (VTL) vendors across 58 criteria and found that FalconStor Software leads for the completeness of its product offering and strategy. Fujitsu Siemens Computers leads for its host support, architecture, and tape integration. First-to-market EMC continues to have a very competitive VTL. Quantum shows substantial promise with a VTL that supports both pre- and post-processing deduplication. NetApp has one of the strongest product strategies as it transforms itself into a heterogeneous data protection vendor. Sun Microsystems and COPAN Systems have created unique offerings with partner software and their own intellectual property. SEPATON leads pure-plays with the most complete offering. HP and IBM have improved VTL offerings but lack market traction. Deduplication pioneers Data Domain and Diligent don't integrate with tape but show promise with customers that want tape elimination."

Three 'leaders' here: FalconStor; Fujitsu Siemens Computers; and Sepaton. But not EMC.  What justifies EMC in claiming it is 'a' VTL market leader according to Forrester?

I think it's undisputable that FalconStor is the virtual tape library leader based on its collected OEM sales. FSC clearly is a technology leader. IBM is the VTL HW/SW device unit ship leader, and EMC is a leader in the sense that it is in the top three or four VTL HW/SW unit shippers. But that is all. There are eight times as many IBM and Sun/STK VTLs installed as EMC ones. That's a lot of catching up to do.