Freund thinks the big guns in storage will eventually embrace Intel's push, because they increasingly see software -- not hardware -- as the key to adding value to their products. Also, he said, the storage building blocks Intel offers could help major vendors cut prices and sell more effectively to smaller businesses or consumers.
A key challenge Intel faces in promoting lower-end storage devices is the need to make them very easy to use, Bobroff said. Steps such as adding capacity must be simple, because the task may be done by a non-techie such as the manager of a doctor's office, he suggested.
Intel does not have a spotless record in the storage arena, according to Roland Baker, chief executive of computer manufacturer Net Express. Baker, whose company puts together computers and storage devices from off-the-shelf parts, said Intel did a poor job of handling its acquisition of German storage company ICP Vortex. Intel acquired ICP Vortex in 2001 and sold the business to Adaptec last year. Baker said Intel failed to offer decent customer assistance for RAID controllers from ICP Vortex. "The controller support was just nonexistent," he said.
Intel declined to comment on Baker's charge.
Intel also faces competition from the likes of Broadcom, Adaptec and LSI Logic. And Freund notes that the company's forays into new arenas -- such as the telecommunications market -- haven't always gone smoothly.
But he argues that the chip giant is about to make waves in storage. "There's a quiet momentum," Freund said. "There's a very large fish that has made a turn in the ocean."
Talkback
Yes - storage commodotisation is on the way