Announcements have certainly accelerated lately with respect to integrated infrastructure technology. Multiple vendors who provide infrastructure hardware for compute, storage and network are either partnering with each other or pursuing a "go alone" strategy. Few will disagree that more tightly integrated solutions will benefit IT customers.
However an IT solution has always had the expectation and requirement to be integrated. That is why the IT industry has developed over the years standards and protocols. In other words, common industry accepted methods to move, process and protect business as well as consumer information. Traditionally large complex IT solutions have been integrated by VARs, management consulting firms or consulting services for a given customer. Is that beginning to change? Also the IT solution is comprised of more than just tightly integrated hardware blocks.
Let's not forget about the various applications that need to run on any given vendors hardware platform. In addition to the applications, virtualization is becoming a standard requirement to maximize the utilization of any vendors integrated hardware platform. Infrastructure providers will need to adjust to the fact that hypervisor technology may sell less hardware because utilization and efficiency will be largely improved.
Does this new focus on consolidation favor software stacks that are both heterogeneous and therefore ubiquitous? The IT industry has become a mature business. New ideas will always continue but IT will still be comprised of both hardware and software.
A good analogy is the automobile industry... Automobiles have had tremendous amounts of progress over the past 100 years. For example there have been many optimizations and efficiencies with car manufacturing, car fuel efficiency, etc. Over the past 20 years the automobile industry has highly leveraged the use of embedded electronics in cars. But the basic components of a car (tires, engine, brakes, steering wheel, etc.) have (and for the foreseeable future) not changed.
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as well as balance sheets, but new credit lending is still tight. 




the ability to build better IT solutions. The same applies to those who are in the business of building cars. From a business perspective it is absolutely critical that the technologies have to be articulated into a cohesive and complementary strategy for success. For example
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A picture is worth a 1000 words and it certainly resonates with the economic global meltdown this past year. A red flag indicator on the economy is the
TED spread has dropped in the first part of 2009, there certainly needs to be additional closure of the spread in order to get back to historical averages. This will only happen, in my opinion, when credit flows normally once again. There has been too many mixed messages on banks lending again (but to whom???) and being able to assign value on toxic assets that the banks are holding. Until these two items can be cleared out, the one common solution for both is attracting private investors.
Consumer and private investor confidence is at an all time low. Government loans and stimulus packages globally all factor into where and what to invest. Where have all the risk takers gone? I certainly don't have the stomach to hedge in the current securites environment. Even governments have retreated to purchasing safe, secure debt for investments so who can blame the private investors to be in a you lead and then I'll follow strategy.

