According to the International Data Corporation (IDC) Worldwide Quarterly Converged Systems Tracker, worldwide converged systems market increased revenue 12,1% year over year to $2,9-billion during the second quarter of 2016; with the market generating 1,693 petabytes of new storage capacity shipments during the quarter, which was up 31.8% compared to the same period a year ago.

“More and more, we are seeing end users looking beyond the hardware specs and performance metrics; end users in this market are looking for vendors that are adept at building and maintaining deep customer relationships,” says Kevin Permenter, senior research analyst: computing platforms at IDC. “Converged system vendors that are able to build these deep relationships with their customers are positioned for growth.”

IDC distinguishes between four product categories: Integrated Systems, Certified Reference Systems, Integrated Platforms, 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.
Integrated Platforms are integrated systems that are sold with additional pre-integrated packaged software and customised system engineering optimised to enable such functions as application development software, databases, testing, and integration tools.

Hyperconverged Systems collapse core storage and compute functionality into a single, highly virtualised 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 second quarter of 2016, the combined Integrated Infrastructure and Certified Reference Systems markets generated revenues of $1,6-billion, which represented a year-over-year increase of 4,7% and 54,8% of the total market revenue.

EMC was the largest supplier of the combined Certified Reference Systems and Integrated Infrastructure categories with $699,58-million in revenue, or 43% share of this market segment. Please note that all VCE product brands, which became the EMC Converged Platforms Division, are reported under EMC starting with the first quarter of 2016 – all historical data from 2012 to 2015 will remain under the VCE vendor.

Integrated Platform revenue declined 3,5% year over year during the second quarter of 2016, generating $864,09-million in revenues. This amounted to 29,1% of the total market revenue. Oracle was the top-ranked supplier of Integrated Platforms in the quarter, generating revenues of $481,97-million and capturing a 55,8% share of the category.

Hyperconverged sales grew 137,5% year over year during the second quarter of 2016, generating $480,62-million in revenue. This amounted to 16,2% of the total market revenue. Please note the above hyperconverged systems revenues, like the other product categories listed here, exclude revenue from support and maintenance contracts.

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