Partner/competitors Dell and EMC seem to be shadowing each other now that EqualLogic’s fancy new iSCSI product line will be coming out soon under the Dell label and, in the process, stepping on some of EMC’s toes.
You see, Dell and EMC have had a kind of strained relationship over a span of several years, with EMC building the systems and Dell selling them through its well-known and respected direct sales force. Each company had what the other needed, until Michael Dell and Co. decided to buy EqualLogic last November for a whopping $1.4 billion.
That made it the biggest storage acquisition in IT history and unbalanced the tippy scales for Dell and EMC because EqualLogic brings second-generation storage products to Dell that EMC does not offer.
Both companies are coming out with new entry-level storage arrays for the SMB market on Jan. 8. EqualLogic’s technology is not involved — yet. That’s about all The Station can tell you at this time, since we’re under verbal embargo until tomorrow on the details. You can read those here at eWEEK first thing in the morning.