3 Things You Need To Know About Converged Infrastructure Customers

Akia Ramsay Obas

Big Data. Cloud. These are the buzzwords of today’s IT industry. Yes, these are both important and they aren’t going away anytime soon. But, why aren’t we talking more about Converged Infrastructure (CI) (i.e. an “out-of-the-box” solution configuration that combines physical compute, networking, and storage resources) and what it means for customers’ IT transformation? Industry experts have told us why technology vendors need to ensure that CI is an essential part of their product portfolios.

The worldwide integrated infrastructure and platforms market increased revenue 8.3% year over year to $2.1 billion during the first quarter of 2015.
– Source: International Data Corporation (IDC) Worldwide Quarterly Integrated Infrastructure and Platform Tracker

“The integrated systems market continues to evolve and is entering a new phase of maturation….It is a highly dynamic competitive landscape where the last 12 months has seen key competitors undergo major reorganization, rebranding and realignment; all with the intent to strategically position themselves in one of the faster growing segments of the datacenter infrastructure market.”
– Kevin M. Permenter, Senior Research Analyst, IDC

But, how do you know what your customers really want, need and expect when it comes to CI? How do you stay in touch with changing customer perspectives in this rapidly growing market?

As part of EMC’s Total Customer Experience approach, we spend significant time and investment to gain an objective view of what potential technology buyers need through a double-blind survey (i.e. the respondents don’t know that EMC sponsors the survey, which means that the answers are unbiased), which we fondly refer to as the “Strategic Technology Program”. We conduct this survey quarterly around major technology areas, including Converged Infrastructure. The results of this survey tell us a few key things about where customers are focused and therefore where any technology vendor needs to focus as well.

Here are 3 key things you need to know about CI decision makers and buyers:

1. The top drivers of CI adoption are performance, scalability and security.

Source: EMC Strategic Technology Program, Q3 2015

2. Seventy-nine percent of customers say their use of Converged Infrastructure for workloads will increase over the next year,¹ however the type of workload differs by technology type.

Customers say that top workloads for both integrated infrastructure and hyperconverged systems include IT systems and real-time Big Data/Analytics. But as you can see in the findings below, there is a notable shift in prioritization beyond these two common workload types.

Source: EMC Strategic Technology Program, Q3 2015

3. Price isn’t the differentiator—customers evaluate which CI vendors they deem as brand leaders based on product quality, customer support and integrated management tools.

Source: EMC Strategic Technology Program, Q3 2015

So, What Should Companies Do To Better Meet Customer Needs?

Based on what we know about CI buyers according to recent research, there are a few things you can do to ensure you are aligned with your customers:

• Ensure your CI product features and marketing messaging address the top drivers of CI adoption—performance, scalability and security. You have to “walk the walk and talk the talk” if you expect technology buyers to seriously consider you as their preferred CI vendor. EMC introduced VSPEX Blue earlier this year with a heavy emphasis on simplifying IT infrastructure deployment and management, which has been recognized by IDC as “a datacenter infrastructure model for the future but also includes unique feature sets that distinguish it from other alternatives on the market.”

• Yes, 79% of customers are looking to increase CI for their workloads. But you have to know that not all CI is equal—customers expect different outcomes when considering integrated infrastructure vs. hyperconverged systems. These differences are critical both in product design and also in how you communicate the product benefits to customers—a one size fits all conversation is not going to work in the world of CI.

• Invest in the organizational processes and capabilities that expand beyond just the product itself to help your brand stand out from the pack. This means developing rigorous quality testing throughout the product lifecycle and making sure that the post-sale experience (i.e. customer support) is as good as the features and functionality you lead with to get buyers interested. It also means that products need to be built with customer-centric management tools in mind and a good way to ensure these are meaningful are through user experience labs and testing to drive real-time improvements and/or validate what’s working well.
• Finally, get back to the basics. Make sure your organization is focused on listening first and then taking action. Whether you invest in a robust double-blind survey like we have at EMC or choose a more grassroots approach engaging your field teams to help capture customer feedback—the important thing is that you take time to LISTEN.

There’s a new player on the technology stage and it goes by the name of Converged Infrastructure. The market is exploding. Customers are eager to buy and implement it. If CI is not part of your company’s portfolio today, then it’s time to make some serious changes. The converged conversation is happening—are you ready to give your customers what they want?

^{1. [Source: EMC Strategic Technology Program, Q3 2105);]↩}

3 Things You Need To Know About Converged Infrastructure Customers
Akia Ramsay Obas