Nigel

Storage Blogwars and the Vendor Fight Club

Ron Singler

Mar 4, 2009 • 3 min read

Recently there has been a noticeable increase in what can only be described as "bare knuckled brawling" between many of the Executive Vendor Bloggers. See the following ByteandSwitch article -

Storage Smackdown article link

This brawling is not your typical civilised discussion, or neutered exchange seen at the likes of Storage Expo and SNW. Oh no, this is something altogether better. The guys involved have taken their jackets off, ~~stripped down to their pants~~ rolled up their sleeves and are swinging in all directions. A bit like a Royal Rumble if you will, only not rehearsed or faked. Actually may be more of a cross between the UFC and a Royal Rumble. These guys are landing real punches and attempting to cause real injuries.

The cool thing is though, these brawls are great fun to watch, and more than occasionally, very insightful.

Vendors and Karate

You ever wonder if Karate is actually of any value as a self-defence skill? Or if its better than Wrestling, or Kick-boxing or may be Ju-Jitsu? If you have, you could go and pay your local Karate Dojo or Wrestling club etc a visit and ask them which is best, or if any are of worth. But its fairly predictable what response you would get. A better way would be to pitch the styles against each other in a no-holds barred free-for-all and see which comes out on top. If you're interested, go and watch the UFC, or any other mixed martial arts competition. Its eye opening and great fun to watch. Sorts the men from the boys.

The same could be said about Storage. You ever wonder who is best out of the likes of - EMC, Hitachi, IBM, NetApp, 3Par? Sure, you could ask your local sales guy from each of the vendors, but we all know what response to expect form them. Better than that, throw them in cage together, with only a few rules, and see who comes out on top. If you're interested, start reading the blogwars! It's also eye opening and great fun to watch. Oh and you can pitch in yourself if you feel "man" enough ;-)

Sadly there are very few knock-outs, and there is usually no clear cut winner. All parties raising their hands in victory when the bell rings and leaving it to the judges score card (thats you). But you're almost guaranteed five rounds of great action and a deep insight into what each has to offer.

The Blogsphere is the Cage

The Blog is crucial to the survival and growth of this Vendor Fight Club. The Vendor Execs seem free from the shackles of corporate restraints and all-seeing-eye of the Legal Department. However, the legal guys are no doubt lurking in the crowd somewhere, so some rules are in place, its not quite gloves off no-holds barred, but its as good as we're likely to get at the moment and far better than your standard Press Release. The gloves being worn offer very little padding, and it's quite often brutal and not for the fainthearted. But like I say, its highly entertaining (if you like your storage) and more importantly, educational.

All Good Fighters Need a Nickname

So just as many of the great fighters of the UFC and other fight sports have nick names -

Randy "The Natural" Couture,
"The Iceman" Chuck Liddell
Michael "The Count" Bisping

........

I figure we need some names for the bloggers involved - Ive tried to be civilised so these are not too harsh. Here' a few that came immediately to mind -

UDPATED with recommends from readers

There are so many more who belong on the list, and I'm sure there are better names. Feel free to pitch in with any thoughts, especially on the nicknames......

I'm glad its not Pay-Per-View blogwars though, coz I'd probably have to get my credit card out and sign up - its often that good!

Nigel

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