In a recent press release,
IBM (
) announced agreements with Brocade (
), Cisco (
) and Juniper (
) to enhance networking technology, which will ultimately help companies to transfer enormous amount of data through different networks.
As per the agreement, IBM will be acting as a reseller and original equipment manufacturer (OEM) for switches and routers that will help transfer data across networks with greater speed and efficiency. The company expects the demand for network equipments to increase 16x by 2020.
In collaboration with Barcode, IBM has introduced IBM Converged Switch B32 and 10Gb Converged Network Adapter (CNA) for IBM System x. This is the company's first Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE) offerings. We believe this technical collaboration will help them produce advanced quality products, which are expected to create a niche market, in the networking arena.
The company's collaboration with JNPR will allow IBM to rebrand and sell selected Juniper EX and MX switches and routers. This combined product from IBM and Juniper will be available late this year, and will help Juniper to market its product with a new identity.
IBM will enable Cisco's Systems & Technology Group sellers and partners to resell the Cisco Nexus 5000 Series Switches. These are high-performance, networking switches, used for data center networks, and supports Fiber Channel connectivity over Ethernet (FCoE). We feel this collaboration will bring out products with enhanced features and resolve the fiber optic connectivity issues to a greater extent.
We believe all the aforementioned agreements will create value for IBM, and help the company to market its products and project better brand value. On the other hand, Juniper, Brocade and Cisco will get the brand name of IBM, and will be better positioned to satisfy customer needs. We reiterate our Buy rating on IBM.
