Originally posted by: TonyPearson

Can you believe it has been a year already since IBM announced VersaStack?

In my May 2012 blog post, [EMC Strikes Back], I poked fun at the fact that Cisco had two girlfriends "significant others": EMC and NetApp.

Cisco originally partnered with EMC to create a converged system called Vblock which combined Cisco UCS servers and switches with EMC storage. The partnership between VMware, Cisco and EMC was dubbed Virtual Computing Environment (VCE).

However, Cisco then partnered with NetApp to create Flexpod, a converged system that combined Cisco UCS servers and switches with NetApp storage. Many of my clients felt that Flexpod was an improvement over Vblock.

A lot has happened since then. In 2014, [drastically reduced its investment in VCE]. Last year, Dell then spent $67 Billion dollars to effectively take EMC out of the storage business. While this was a huge birthday present for IBM, not everyone is happy to see EMC fade away. Whitney Garcia has a great article titled [Crying at the Dell-EMC wedding: Why VCE customers should consider alternatives].

Before VersaStack, IBM had its own converged system, PureSystems, which combined IBM POWER and x86 servers with IBM storage. The x86 server portion of this business was sold off to Lenovo, but IBM continues to sell POWER-only and blended x86-and-POWER PureFlex systems, as well as PureApplication and PureData systems.

The [VersaStack] collaboration between IBM and Cisco offers an alternative to Vblock and Flexpod converged systems. Cisco is a leader in x86 blades and networking switches, and IBM is #1 in Flash and Software Defined Storage, including Storage Virtualization. VersaStack gives you the best of both worlds!

The VersaStack has Cisco Validated Designs for use with IBM's Spectrum Virtualize products:

• FlashSystem V9000
• Storwize V7000
• Storwize V7000 Unified
• Storwize V5000

  This week, February 11, 2016, 12pm EDT, IBM and Cisco are hosting a webinar on VersaStack. Join us for the one year anniversary of VersaStack in a discussion with IBM, Cisco and VersaStack customers.

  The speakers will be discussing VersaStack progress to date and the value VersaStack brings to client workloads. Topics of discussion will include how VersaStack can lower TCO, administrative overhead, reduce downtime and improve resource utilization, and allow for business innovation. The speakers include:

  • Jonathan Cox, Medicat, Director, Technology Services
  • Susan Martens, IBM, Director, VersaStack Sales, North America
  • Kent Hixson, Cisco, Sales Business Development Manager

  Here is the [Registration Link] to participate. Hope you can make it!

  technorati tags: IBM, Cisco, EMC, VCE, VMware, Vblock, NetApp, Flexpod, VersaStack, #VersaStack, POWER, x86, Lenovo, PureSystems, PureFlex, PureApplication, PureData, Whitney Garcia, Jonathan Cox, Susan Martens, Kent Hixson, FlashSystem V9000, Storwize V7000, Storwize V7000 Unified, Storwize V5000, Medicat