How to sell servers to SMBs

The battle for server market share in small to medium business has always been fought on speeds and feeds. One vendor will play a trump set of benchmarks until another vendor's next hardware refresh. 

However, there are signs that vendors may focus less on who has the faster box than who presents the most comprehensive, well-integrated approach to designing an IT environment. The right server to fit an SMB now might depend on who has the best "ecosystem".

The most expansive interpretation of the ecosystem approach brings storage and networking under the same management umbrella as processing power. While this level of integration is more useful to the enterprise, server vendors are keen to sell the benefits of simpler management to smaller companies too.

Making servers and other IT infrastructure easier to manage means SMBs can avoid paying for engineering certifications for their IT staff - or having to call in expensive IT support for basic moves and changes.

Resellers chasing the ecosystem sale need to take a more customised approach than the one server, one application approach of the past. Sales strategies need to appeal as solutions to business problems rather than a straightforward server upgrade.

The payoff is the likelihood of a more heavily featured (and more profitable) server sale.
Analysts say the ecosystem approach will favour tier-one vendors that have invested in headline alliances, such as Microsoft and HP; or Cisco, VMware and EMC.

"A system builder can manufacture a system to work as well as a tier-one OEM can, but they may not have connections to the same enterprise technology," says Errol Rasit, principal analyst for data centre systems at Gartner.

"The big tier-one vendors are chasing the same target which is a fabric-style computing. This does resonate with a lot of large business today and it will filter through to small businesses in the future."

Aspects of fabric computing are already passing down the food chain.

For example, look at the takeup by small business of the blade server, an enterprise innovation which packs processor, memory, I/O and program storage into a single unit.

IBM and HP have released small form-factor chassis that plug straight into a 240-volt wall socket without a separate power supply. IBM's model in this size, the Bladecenter S, is marketed with the line, "Big benefits for the small office".

While not every SMB will be ready for blades, every business can benefit from one focus of fabric computing - easier management.

Undoing the hassles of admin
Many tier-one vendors are focusing on reducing the cost of ownership by improving ease of management through the single-vendor, ecosystem approach.

"Customers aren't just after a faster server, they're after a better ecosystem. We could just deliver the next processor and say, ‘Here it is, a bit shinier and faster'. But if it's not integrated and easier for a partner to sell then we are going to be wanting," says HP's marketing manager Raymond Maisano.

The goal of integrated components is to make it less complex to deliver leading edge technology, says Maisano. "We believe management is at the core of delivering service to the customer. Rather than having to spend more time learning, we are driving up the utilisation of what they've got," says Maisano.

Management is of course easier if all your network components come from the same vendor. HP and to a lesser extent Dell are encouraging their partners to sell their own servers, storage and networking.

Not only is it possible to have a single management tool for the network, it makes troubleshooting easier in theory because if something doesn't work, there's only one support phone number to call.

Cisco has tackled the issue of support through its alliance with VMware and EMC. There is a single support number for customers to call for the three vendors' products.

Cisco's server strategy is to simplify the architecture by running a unified network - called Unified Computing System (UCS) - to lower the cost and complexity from a networking perspective.

While not a strong point in the past, Cisco has received plaudits for the single-pane management interface built into its UCS environment.

The vendor is extending these benefits down the foodchain. By next quarter an SMB customer will be able to add a rack server to a blade environment and have it appear as an additional blade, says Dylan Morison, Cisco's data centre regional manager.

Dell is working on a similar theme with its server management console, based on Symantec's Altiris management software.

The console is integrated with virtualisation software from Microsoft, VMware and Citrix.

"It comes as a part of the server and gives you an engine to manage networking, storage and helpdesk," says Jon McBride, Dell's manager of SMB  enterprise solutions.

Another management feature is the lifecycle controller - a solid state drive that contains drivers to get a server up and running quickly. The controller connects back to Dell and uploads the latest versions. "It saves a lot of time putting CDs and DVDs in a slot and waiting for something to load up," says McBride. Dell is witnessing increased sales in appliances - virtual and physical.

Devices with pre-installed software which has been hardened and optimised at the factory dramatically cut down install times, says McBride.

KACE is one appliance which fits neatly into the renewed emphasis on easier administration. KACE is a systems management tool which gives IT managers a view of hardware and software from any vendor on a network. KACE helps SMBs manage their inventories, simplifying patching and eliminating unused software licences.

In its appliance form KACE can be up and running in a day, says Dell, compared to weeks for other products.
Management is becoming more important because servers are expected to do a lot more than in the past.
Dedicating a box to a single application is becoming less common in multi-server sites thanks to virtualisation, which is reinventing IT - and server buying patterns - for SMBs.