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Storage hardware maker Fujitsu Software Technology Corp., better known as Fujitsu Softek, is expected to announce on Monday that it is buying switch maker Vixel Corp.s SAN InSite software line, according to sources close to Vixel.
Officials with Fujitsu and Vixel would not confirm or deny the acquisition. However, Arun Taneja, an analyst with Enterprise Storage Group Inc., in Milford, Mass., said the move is a smart one for both companies.
With Vixels SAN InSite software, “there wasnt enough emphasis put on it. It seemed like they lost the momentum,” said Taneja, a former vice president at Vixel, of Bothell, Wash.
Vixel struck an OEM deal with Sunnyvale, Calif.-based Fujitsu Softek in early 2001, but failed to accomplish their goal of getting other OEM deals, he said.
“Obviously, Vixel hasnt got traction from any other OEM,” he said. “The net of this thing is Fujitsu gets the critical piece of software that they need, they get full control on it.”
Theres no significant effect of this deal for end users, he said. Meanwhile Vixel can focus on hardware and chips, its core competency.
Financial details of the deal were not available, but Taneja compared it to the acquisition of SANavigator Inc. by switch maker McData Corp., which paid just under $30 million for SANavigator a year ago.
