* Storage network company touts diversification scheme
Brocade Communications last week announced plans to incorporate 10Gbps Ethernet and iSCSI technology into its Fibre Channel switches.
At the company’s annual Analyst Day in San Jose, CEO and President Mike Klayko reviewed how Brocade has diversified in the past year. He mentioned the acquisition of NuView in 2006, which brought Brocade into the burgeoning file-area network market. And he talked of the company’s acquisition of McData and Silverback Systems.
“If we had just stayed in the Fibre Channel SAN market, we would have had a market of about $1.8 billion,” Klayko said. With the acquisitions and Brocade’s diversification, Klayko estimates that the company will make three times as much money — $5.4 billion.
Klayko also addressed further diversification with the introduction of 10Gbps Ethernet in 2008.
“You are going to see us incorporate [Silverback’s 10Gbps Ethernet and iSCSI technologies] and incorporate it into the infrastructure that we are filling out for the future of the data center,” he said.
The company will set a road map for 10Gbps Ethernet in the second half of this year and plans to deliver products in 2008.
Brocade’s iSCSI Gateway, a 1U (1.75-inch) high appliance, now boasts two iSCSI and two Fibre Channel ports.
The company expects to generate $250 million in revenue in 2008 from Ethernet sales.
