Questions needing answers, directed at Acadia
The flurry of incoming inquires on Vblock hasn’t let up yet. The top two questions I consistantly get are:
- The Vblocks look like they are sized based on the number of virtual machines. Is that per Vblock? These things are modular….right? What if I stack up 2 Vblocks? 3? 10? How many virtual machines can I run?
- When Cisco, EMC, and VMware sized the Vblocks, what workload did they choose? We assume a “mixed workload”, but every company is different and it will impact consolidation ratios. How about a VDI only or a SQL consolidation workload?
- How do I justify the price premium? Since Vblocks are new and they have not run in a data center yet, how do I measure the operational impact and how can I communicate that to an executive level.
Besides that, I keep getting a bunch of people naturally reacting that Cisco, EMC, and VMware are crazy and it will never work. I always find it entertaining to see how top tier companies, sports teams, and even consumer products always seem to have a giant red target painted on their back. You work so hard to get to the top and then realize how lonely it is–and everyone is throwing stones at you.
Acadia, Cisco, EMC, and VMware: we are ready for the answers to the above questions.
