EMC is well known for its exhaustive qualification and testing procedures, and Cisco's MDS 9000-series directors are clearly undergoing this scrutiny. Tucci declined to elaborate further on the testing of the Andiamo switches and how much longer the qualification will take. The company has had the Cisco switches in its testing lab since August 2002 (see EMC CTO Makes His Entrance).
A Cisco spokesman said the qualification process with EMC was tracking as expected but was unable to provide more details by press time.
Tucci said the reason EMC has to be so meticulous in its testing of other products is because customers call EMC when they have a storage problem, regardless of whether the company has developed the product at fault.
"Customers call us and say, 'Eh, help us out,' " Tucci said. "Right now when they have a problem with a Brocade director or a McData Corp. [Nasdaq: MCDTA] director, they don't call Brocade of McData -- they call us."
It's a fair point. A survey last year by Wall Street brokerage firm Robert W. Baird & Co. Inc. revealed that most customers have noooo idea who makes the switches in their storage area networks (see Survey: OEMs Decide Switch Buys
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