Cisco eyes second-highest slot in blade server mkt

Networking giant Cisco is looking at the rapid growth in demand for cloud computing services as an opportunity to corner the second-highest slot in the blade server market globally.

Cisco had forayed into the blade server space about two years ago with its Unified Computing System (UCS) and is currently the third-largest player globally, after HP and IBM.

"Over the last 12 months, our market share has ramped up. We are now placed third globally. In fact, we are in sitting distance of being the number two as far as the blade server market is concerned," Cisco Senior Vice-President (Data Centre, Virtualisation and Cloud Business) Rajesh Rege told PTI.

A blade server is a compact, low power-consumption server deployed at data centres.

According to the IDC Worldwide Quarterly Server Tracker for November, 2011, blade servers -- including x86, EPIC and RISC blades -- account for $2 billion in revenues, representing 16% of quarterly server market revenue. About 89% of all blade revenue is driven by x86-based blades.

"UCS is a data centre platform that unites computing, networking, storage access and virtualisation into a cohesive system. Globally, UCS is the fastest growing segment for Cisco and the total number of UCS customers as of April, 2011, stands at 5,400," he said.

HP remained the dominant player server blade market in Q3, 2011, with a 51% revenue share, followed by IBM with an 18.5% revenue share.

Cisco was third-largest, with 10% share, while Dell has 7.2%.

In India too, Cisco's UCS is gaining traction. The company has more than 500 customers of the system in India, of which 400 customers were added in the last 12-18 months, Rege added.

The size of the X86-based blade server market in India is about $35 to 40 million.

The adoption, he said, has been driven by features and functionalities that "we have built inside the USC".

"We have taken industry standard components. For example, for the processors, that are the heart of UCS, we have partnered with Intel. Cisco also brings in the advantage of deep understanding of networking," he added.

Some of Cisco's customers include HCL Technologies, Wipro and TCS. Other customers include telecom and banking sector clients.

"Service providers like HCL, Net Magic and Dimension Data, who are providing cloud-based services for SMEs across the country, use Cisco technology," Rege said.

USC, which is a building block for cloud computing technology, will remain a focus area for the networking giant.

"We are witnessing a paradigm shift in computing with the emergence of cloud. Virtually every business sector is betting big on cloud computing because it enables the end-user to only subscribe to a portion of technology that they want to use. They don't need to create a massive infrastructure," he said.

A study by EMC Corporation and Zinnov Management Consulting states that the size of the cloud market in India will reach $4.5 billion by 2015, compared to $400 million now.

"Cloud is a high growth market. We are looking at a cloud CAGR of about 65% over the next three years," he said.

Going forward, the company expects an increase in UCS sales across all the verticals, especially in the IT/ITes, banking, education, telecom and government sectors.

On Cisco's future strategy, Rege said, "Our strategy is basically to put together a range of products and technology that can enable cloud as well as create capacity and capability to deliver a number of services for implementation of cloud infrastructure."

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Ratan Tata exhorts youth to fight graft

At a time when Team Anna is piling up pressure on the government over the Lokpal Bill, Tata Group Chairman Ratan Tata today said the youth of India need to fight to root out corruption.

Tata, who generally maintains a silence over the issue at public platforms, tweeted: "The youth of today will need to recognise that they shoulder a great responsibility...They will need to fight for rooting out corruption, for ensuring that no one is above the law, and uniting the citizens of India as 'Indians first' instead of communal or geographic factions".

Stating that the youth of India can shape the country's future, he said they will need to strive for excellence while personally upholding high ethical standards and values.

Wishing the young citizens of the country "the very best for the New Year", Tata wrote on the social networking site Twitter, that the next decade can be the decade of the youth of India - their voice, their vigour and their energy could have a profound impact on the shape of India of tomorrow.

"One hopes the country will be driven by meritocracy, while being sensitive to the needs of the less privileged, and truly become a nation of equal opportunity for all," he said.

Tata would be hanging his boots in December 2012 when he turns 75 -- the retirement age fixed by the salt-to-software USD 80 billion Tata Group.

Tata Sons, the holding company of the Group has already announced Cyrus P Mistry, the 43-year-old Managing Director of Shapoorji Pallonji Group, to succeed Ratan Tata.

Ratan Tata is in the process of readying Mistry for the big role. Yesterday, he formally introduced Mistry to Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma.

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Kingfisher not operating 175 daily departure flights

Kingfisher airlines was not operating 175 of the 418 daily departure flights approved for it during winter schedule 2011 leading to cancellation of its slots.

“Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has issued letters to Kingfisher for violation of Rule 140 A of aircraft Rules 1937," Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh said in reply to a question in the Lok Sabha today.

“Kingfisher Airlines has informed that they have initiated reconfiguration of their aircraft due to which some of their aircraft are out of service for a few weeks," Singh told the House.

The slots alloted to Kingfisher had been cancelled, the Minister said.

In reply to another question, Singh said that Air India had increased the fuel surcharge on short haul domestic routes as well as on long haul flights within the country from November 20 this year.

“The fuel surcharge has been increased by Rs 200 on sectors less than 1400 km and by Rs 300 on sectors more than 1400 km," Singh said.

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US stocks spike on jobs news

US Stocks closing: Stocks are closing higher on encouraging economic reports. The number of Americans that applied for unemployment benefits dropped last week to the lowest level since April 2008, in the latest sign that the job market is healing.

The Dow Jones industrial average closed up 62 points Thursday, or less than 1 percent, to 12,170.

The S&P 500 index rose 10 points, also less than 1 percent, to 1,254, while the Nasdaq was up 21, or less than a percent, at 2,599.

Applications for unemployment fell for the third week in a row. The Conference Board also reported that its measure of future economic activity had a big increase in November. It was the second straight gain, signaling that the U.S. economy was picking up some speed.

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NASA discovers Tatooine, but not in a galaxy far, far away

Astronomers say a bit of science fiction is now reality. They've spotted a planet orbiting two suns.

The discovery was made by NASA's planet-hunting telescope Kepler. Scientists describe the find in Friday's issue of the journal Science.

They are calling the new planet Tatooine after the fictional body in the Star Wars films that boasts a double sunset.

The alien world, about the size of Saturn, is frigid and inhospitable. It orbits two stars 200 light-years from Earth.

Though there have been past hints of the existence of other planets that circled double stars, scientists said this is the first confirmation.

Kepler was launched in 2009 to find out how common other planets – especially Earth-like planets – are in the universe.

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