Not so long ago Cisco (NASDAQ: CSCO) was the foremost networking gear provider, and it pretty much stuck to its knitting, partnering with Hewlett-Packard (NYSE: HPQ) and IBM (NASDAQ: IBM) (and, to a degree, Dell) to funnel its routers and switches into the enterprise and service provider markets. Cisco called the shots, and for a long time it was more or less futile to complain.

But eventually the networking gear giant began to branch out into "adjacent" businesses such as storage and servers, and, as Jim Duffy explores in a feature at Network World, this sent major disruptions rippling throughout the switching, server and storage markets, the ultimate effect of which won't be known for some time.

Once Cisco planted roots in the data center infrastructure arena, the long-time partners began to retaliate. HP spent nearly $3 billion to buy Cisco competitor 3Com, and it threw out its Cisco network in favor of its own technology. Meanwhile, Dell purchased switch maker Force10 Networks. IBM, for its part, strengthened ties to router maker Juniper Networks, and then bought blade switch vendor BLADE Network Technologies.

"So as it plays out: Cisco, the data center networking kingpin, invades the server market; and server titans HP, IBM and Dell respond by acquiring and partnering with credible Cisco rivals in data center networking," Duffy writes. "It's been reported that Cisco will lose $2 billion in annual revenue through the HP/IBM/Dell channel but could ultimately gain that back and more by convincing IT shops to adopt its holistic server/switching/virtualization and storage access architecture."

As Duffy notes, no one can be sure how this will all end up. Can the recent acquisitions by HP and IBM eventually make them major networking suppliers? Will Cisco one day be a major vendor in the data center server space? "The stage is set for a battle royale between these companies for the minds and pocketbooks of IT shops for years to come," he writes. "It should be aggressive, bitter and bloody. And it will be long."

For more, see:
- Jim Duffy's article at Network World

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