Summary
3Com's H3C enterprise networking unit has picked the perfect time to attack global markets. The market competitors are experiencing disruptions in traditional vendor/OEM alliances, shifts between multiple sales channels, product consolidations and increasing head to head competition. All of these disruptions create a window of opportunity for a H3C to become a dominant global seller.
Analysis
Penetration into the enterprise/government spaces is normally extremely difficult. Especially if it requires creating new channel relationships and solution partners. Fortunately for H3C, the entire enterprise, government and SMB markets for networking, storage and data center products are on the edge of massive tectonic shifts.
Traditional alliances are collapsing as evidenced by the strong rhetoric from Cisco towards HP (Cisco Ready to Throw Punches Against HP - The Channel Wire). Recent acquisitions by key players (Oracle's Sun Deal - A Closer Look - BusinessWeek) are further redifining what product blends will be solution offerings. Major shifts in channel sales (Hewlett-Packard, CDW partnership irks HP partners - IT Channel News) are dissolving existing sales teams and customer relationships. And entrance of key competitors throughout the networking, storage and data center markets (Dell Unveils Nationwide Managed Services Solution Designed for Small and Medium Businesses - Reuters) are greatly expanding the number of potential partners.
All of these activities and many others are destablizing the traditional competitive landscape in H3C's markets and are creating a host of new opportunities for H3C to develop new partners, new channels and new markets.
