Just a couple of weeks ago EMC announced the release of DSSD and an all-flash VMAX (VMAX AF). In that same announcement, they also stated they would be “re-architecting” XtremIO to accommodate 3D NAND, 3.8TB SSD:

Source of Revenue Figures: The Register: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2016/02/01/product_blastoff_by_emc/

The first thing that jumps out at me is that EMC now has three “all flash” offerings that can all be positioned in the same space. A very sincere question: How does EMC reconcile that? If there’s anything to be learned from the ‘All flash’ market space, it is that confusion and complexity won’t be tolerated. NetApp, for example, has gone through multiple iterations of flash arrays largely because customers have not been motivated to invest in the conflicting positions NetApp has taken. Introducing a VMAX AF into the fold and positioning it as a “Tier 1/Enterprise” flash array that exists because — and I quote Jeremy Burton EMC CXO, “There are some things XtremIO just can’t do” — can be interpreted as that very same contradictory message that NetApp has been plagued by. This strategy’s got me scratching my head!

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