2. BLADE SERVERS
2
BLADE
SERVERS
• Part of a computer configuration where power, cooling, storage and connectivity are
largely provided by an outer housing or chassis. The chassis contains and services a
number of specialized, stripped down motherboard units - the blade servers - each one
a complete computer or service device containing only vital processing and storage
elements.
Functions
• Webhosting
• Virtualization
• Cluster Computing
Industries
• Industry Sector: IT, Business Consulting & Business Services
• Industry Subsector: IT Hardware & Peripherals
• Industry Group: Enterprise Hardware Systems
• Industry Subgroup: Hardware Servers
3. Context
3
BLADE
SYMPHONY
• Established
Product
Experience across
JAPAN
• Introducing first
time in Indian
market
• Virtualization
software
embedded in the
system's
firmware.
Plans
• Hitachi India
Eyes Blade
market in India-
selling Blade
Symphony
Requirements
• Assessment of
Market
opportunities &
Growth Story
• Go To Market
Strategy for the
Indian Market
4. Scope & Methodology
4
Contextual analysis
Secondary Research
Segmentation and Targeting
Secondary Research
Customer analysis
Secondary Research
Competitor analysis
Secondary Research
Go to Market strategy
Business Marketing Frameworks
Activities
Study Analyst Reports
Secondary Research - Blade Symphony Website
Secondary Research – For Servers market analysis
Brainstorming and analysis
Strategy formulation
Final Report
5. Blade Servers Market Entry – A Challenge & Strategic Bet
5
MARKET DRIVERS:
• Green Computing
• 360 deg. Impact on Business ( Physical,
Technical, Operation facets)
• Advent of server Consolidation
• Flexibility & Scalability Avenues
• More Challenging and intricate structured
Workloads
• High Level of security & Virtualization
• Energy Conservation
• Cloud Computing Infrastructure
• Unprecedented growth in Data
• Real Time Business Analytics
• High Performance Computing
RECENT DEVELOPMENT in MARKET
• ACER opening up business in the mid enterprise
segment in INDIA.
• CISCO recently entered into INDIAN market
• IBM foraying into SMBs seeing the upcoming
growth for servers consumption
• HP upgrading product line to target SMBs in
India
• ORACLE wooing its lost partners for increasing
market share
• DELL managed double growth in revenue for
Blade servers this year in India
• IBM invested dollars for R&D in INDIA
• IBM created an exclusive club of blade
champions
$ 800
Million
Market
( 2011)
Indian Blade
Server market
to grow with
11.2 % CAGR
7. Phase I – Industry & Market: Contextual Analysis
7
1/2
Analysis
Blade Servers Market Overview
Segment Overview
Overview of Incumbent players
Industry Structure analysis
Analyst Feedbacks & Report Analysis
Insights
High customer buying power
Intense rivalry
Price war
Need for differentiation
Need to understand, create, deliver,
communicate, and realize value
IMPLICATIONS: Arising from market forces
Market Force Meaning Implications
Moderate to High
customer
power
• Some segments of customers are
highly price conscious
• Highly demanding customers
• Lot of options available to the
customer
• Price war
• Customer demand for free or highly discounted support and
training
• Demand for Long Warranty period or discounted fee AMC/ free
Upgrades
• Demand for customized products and technology solutions
Intense Rivalry • Established incumbents
• Incumbents ready to go to any
lengths to get customers ( Strong
financial Muscles)
• Price War
• Need for Differentiated products
• Need to Understand Value
• Need to Deliver Value
• Need to Communicate and Realize value
• Need for a Solutions approach
• Need for brand equity
8. Niche vs. Foothold Strategies
8
Choice of market entry needs to tie into the overarching business strategy for BLADE SYMPHONY.
Following are two strategy alternatives available to BLADE SMPHONY
Niche Foothold Strategies
“Niche” Strategy – This is a strategy of effectively serving
a particular segment of customers; this Niche strategy
involves a trade-off of not serving the
broad customer base, and thereby sacrificing market share
As Hitachi holds an impression of High End technology
providers at premium Cost.
Hitachi could foray into Premium segment and position
Blade Symphony with High End Customers( large
Enterprises & Large Data Centre Cos.).
“Foothold” Strategy – This is a strategy that breaks trade-
offs. This is a strategy to launch a structurally superior
business model for one segment, and gain an unbeatable
position in that segment. Once this leadership position is
attained, the company can do an “Up market” march
across segments.
As SMBs market is yet to be exploited in Indian scenario
and even established market players are too gearing up
with different strategy framework.
1. Hitachi need not to be the late face of this market and
could well channelize the strategy to penetrate well
with all the shares open to grab.
2. Once well entered into the SMBs market then gear up
with the Premium segment too as the credentials are
already there to prove the mettle and leverage the
experience to handle large enterprise customers.
9. Phase I – Industry & Market: Segmentation & Targeting
9
2/2
Phase Objective Broad Strategy Type of Target
segment
Target Segments
Phase 1 Enter Focus on Volume segments
Develop differentiators and
solutions
that appeal to chosen volume
segments
Volume SMBs
Tier II & Tier III Auto
component manufacturers.
Travel Agencies
Hospitality Management Cos.
Small Banking Cos.
Education Institutions
Phase 2 Sustain Continue focus on Volume
segments
Start focusing on Potential
segments
Develop differentiators and
solutions that appeal to target
Volume + Potential Phase 1 segments
Pharma Cos.
Government Units
Large IT Enterprises
Phase 3 Up sell Increase focus on Potential
segments
Develop differentiators and
solutions that appeal to target
Volume + Potential Phase 1 & 2 Segments
Automobile manufacturers
(OEMs)
Oil & Gas
Auto component manufacturers
Volume Segment – Simple applications, high volumes
Potential Segment - Complex applications, Good brand value, big size, Marquee/Reference clients
10. Business Potential across SMBs Segment
10
TRIGGEREING AVENUES ACROSS SMBs SEGMENT:
• India SMBs are looking for a technology partner who extend robust roadmap and smarter solutions, not only
at reasonable acquisition cost but also offers greater ROI
• Focusing at High performance for more challenging workloads
• Sectors including, retail, healthcare, manufacturing, telcos, BFSI, automotive chartering out expansion plans
There is also a strong intent from government giving thrust to IT infrastructure
• Many midsize companies are expected to join large enterprises in deploying server, virtualization in the next
three years.
• SMBs market is yet virgin and need to be exploited to the fullest
• SMBs are gearing up in service and quality level to meet the next level requirements through better
embracing of Infrastructure support
11. SURVEY
Customers
Channel Partners
• Comprehensive Technical Survey
• Mode: one-on-one, online & telecon
• Mix of pre-select & free-form questions
• Survey sections on target group needs,
buying behavior and competitor offerings
Phase II – Market Sensing: Voice of Customer
11
1/2
Analysis
Target Group wise categorization
Product and Service needs
Buying behavior
Existing competitor brands
Vendor relationship orientation
Gaps in current offerings
Long-term vendor relation crucial to all three Target Groups
Different Target Groups value different aspects as key attribute
– Phase1 Target Group: Value-for-Money Offering
– Phase2 Target Group: Domain Application know-how
– Phase3 Target Group: Service & Support
Slightly varying Channel Requirements per Target Group
Direct Sales and System House the most common channels across all segments
Scope for differentiation in Custom Built Applications, Service and Support
Key Insights
12. Phase II – Market Sensing: Analyzing Competition
Porter’s Framework
• Future Goals
• Assumptions
• Current Strategy
• Capabilities
Sources
• Analyst Reports
(supported)
• Public Databases
• Primary Research
12
1/2
Categorization
- Conglomerates
- End-to-End System
Suppliers
- System Specialists
- Component
Key Competitors (current)
- IBM
- HP
- DELL
Future Trends
- Mass Customization
- Convergence
- PACs
- PC-based
Future Competitors
- ORACLE
- CISCO
- ACER
- LENOVO
Head-on competition detrimental – big players have deep pockets
Well established competitor brand with scale in distribution
ControlPro’s differentiation need to be protected (through patents etc)
Keep one eye on future trends – build new features in the offerings
Key Insights
13. 13
1.Combination of Product,
Service, Programs and
Systems
2.Unbundled Offering
-Basic Offering
-Basic Plus Offering
-High end offering
-Pharma offering
Auto Offering
3.Offering includes
differentiators for target
segments
4.Offerings address gaps
identified in the survey
1.Participation in IT Trade
Fairs
2.Sponsoring free application
development workshops
3.Association with
educational institutions,
thereby generating awareness
and a skilled resource pool
4.End user marketing
5.Application Eco system
1.Methodology
-Analysis of customer buying
behaviour
-Generation of channel
options
-Channel evaluation
(Customer filter, Product
Channel fit, Custom filter)
-Market coverage and
Channel integration
2.Integrated multichannel
model
-Direct Sales
-System houses (Value added
resellers)
-Internet and Tele
(Predominantly for Support)
???
** Note- Limited
Scope to step into
PRICE Model
Phase III – Go To Market Strategy: (4 minus 1) Ps
PRICE
PROMOTION
PLACE
PRODUCT
14. FUTURE INDIAN BLADE SERVER
14
FEATURES- ALIKE
• Blade Server Aggregation
• Faster input/output (I/O) Connections
• Improved I/O Controls
• More Flexible Storage Options
• Deeper Integration with Virtualization
• Management Software Enhancements
• Chassis Interconnections
• Memory Aggregation
• Standards for Switch Modules
CUSTOMIZATION AVENUES
• LOW COST BLADE
SERVER
• GREEN COMPUTING
ENABLED
• SCALABILITY for SMBs
• Standards for Switch
Modules
COST-REDUCTION
AVENUES
• Eliminating scope of shared
resources of Power
• Eliminating the shared
ETHERNET & Storage I/O
• Eliminating Manageability
inside Chassis
• Incorporating Load
balancing within Chassis
• Replacing LED indicators
with other indicators
15. KEY INSIGHTS OF MARKET
15
• Company IT architectures are
implementing web services;
• New business designs & open
standards exploiting Internet
ubiquity are increasing;
• Our planet is increasingly
becoming instrumented,
interconnected,
• intelligent;
• Industry consolidation continues;
• Increasing need to provide products
and services on a global basis;
• Competitors continue decreasing
cycle time in bringing products and
services to market;
• An increasing number of customers
rely on Internet sources for
purchase-related information
• Channel commission % of
purchase price;
• Promotional support including
market development funds;
• Business partner program rules
and ease of doing business;
• Number of customers / market
share;
• Quality of customer service
provided to end customer;
• Quality of service provided to the
channel to help support the end
customer
• Purchase Price;
• Maintenance Costs;
• Total Cost of Ownership;
• Availability of bundled
financing;
• Market share & Brand image;
• Perceived product quality;
• Sales force knowledge;
• Advertising;
• Analyst reviews;
• Energy efficient design;
• Optimal design for environmental
safety;
Buyer Purchase
Criteria
Distribution
Channel
purchase
Criteria
Technology
Trends
Industry
Trends
