Worldwide Converged Systems Revenue Increases 11% in Q1

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According to the International Data Corporation (IDC) Worldwide Quarterly Converged Systems Tracker, the worldwide converged systems market increased revenue 11.0% year over year to $2.5 billion during the first quarter of 2016 (1Q16). The market generated 1,367 petabytes of new storage capacity shipments during the quarter, which was up 36.2% compared to the same period a year ago.

"End users within the mid-market and even in the outer edge of the enterprise datacenter continue to prioritize simplicity in all aspect of the user experience. This is at the heart of the rapid growth rate within hyperconverged systems." said Kevin M. Permenter, senior research analyst, Computing Platforms. "Going forward, IDC believes the vendors that can present the end user with a seamless and simple end-to-end experience will be well-positioned for further growth."

Converged Systems Segments

IDC distinguishes between three market segments: Integrated Systems, Certified Reference Systems, and Hyperconverged Systems.

• Integrated systems are pre-integrated, vendor-certified systems containing server hardware, disk storage systems, networking equipment, and basic element/systems management software.
• Like integrated systems, certified reference systems are pre-integrated, vendor-certified systems containing server hardware, disk storage systems, networking equipment, and basic element/systems management software. Certified reference systems, however, are designed with systems from multiple technology vendors
• Hyperconverged systems collapse core storage and compute functionality into a single, highly virtualized solution. A key characteristic of hyperconverged systems that differentiate these solutions from other integrated systems is their ability to provide all compute and storage functions through the same server-based resources.

During the first quarter of 2016, the Integrated Systems market generated revenues of $1584.25 million, which represented a year-over-year increase of 1.8% and 62.8% of the total market value. Please note that all VCE product brands, which became the EMC Converged Platforms Division, are reported under EMC starting with the Q1 2016 quarter; all historical data from 2012 to 2015 will remain under the VCE vendor. EMC was the largest supplier of Integrated Systems with $403.90 million in sales, or 25.5% share of the market segment.