VCE rolls out an all-in-one system with EMC's all-flash XtremIO array
VCE is expanding its line of all-in-one cloud systems, adding one with all-flash storage and offering more options for enterprises that want an easier path to the cloud. — The company, formed by Cisco and EMC …
Context & Ripple Effects
VCE — the joint venture Cisco and EMC formed to sell pre-integrated Vblock systems — is putting EMC's all-flash XtremIO array inside the box, turning what began as an integration experiment into a flash-first product line. The move caps a five-year build-out at EMC: the 2009 launch of cloud storage aligned first with VMware, the FastScale acquisition that added provisioning software, and the 2012 step into OpenStack all pointed toward selling complete cloud stacks rather than arrays alone.
The timing matters. EMC's merger talks with Hewlett-Packard broke down in September, leaving the company pursuing organic and partnership routes instead — while Cisco is simultaneously courting partners and buyers for its $1 billion Intercloud initiative. The story drew same-day pickups from SiliconANGLE, ZDNet, ServerWatch and Data Center Knowledge, signaling broad trade interest in whether integrated stacks can displace component-by-component purchasing.
First-order effects
- Enterprises evaluating Vblock now get a single-vendor all-flash option, removing one of the main reasons to assemble Cisco networking, EMC storage and servers separately.
- The launch deepens Cisco and EMC's dependence on each other just weeks after EMC's breakup with HP narrowed its strategic alternatives.
Second-order effects
- Rivals that sell storage and compute à la carte — including Dell, whose $1.4 billion EqualLogic purchase made it a converged-storage player years ago — face pressure to bundle their own rack-scale offerings or cede the enterprise refresh cycle.
- Cisco can fold Vblock purchases into the $1 billion loan program it committed for gear buyers under Intercloud, using financing as a lever competitors without balance-sheet muscle must answer.
Third-order effects
- If pre-integrated flash systems keep winning enterprise deals, value migrates from individual arrays and servers to whoever controls the integrated stack — the pattern behind today's 'rack-scale competition.'
- The joint-venture structure itself becomes a question mark: with EMC weighing options after the failed HP talks (and reportedly exploring other combinations, though nothing is confirmed), ownership of VCE is now entangled with both parents' larger strategic endgames.
The trend: Enterprise infrastructure is consolidating into vendor-integrated, flash-based rack-scale systems, shifting competition from individual components to who assembles and finances the whole stack.