That pressure came courtesy of Ciscos entrance into the Fibre Channel switch scene last year. Although Cisco has taken little market share, it hurts McData and Brocade as the third competitor in what was a comfortable two-horse race.
"You certainly didnt have pricing pressure when it was just McData and Brocade," says Steve Berg, analyst at Punk Ziegel & Co. "It started when a third player came in. And not just any third player a large company that can endure a lot of pain."
Heavy Reading's Fall 2003 Storage Networking Market Perception Study found Cisco had the highest name recognition in the group among prospective buyers, and it tied overall category leader Brocade for highest perception rating for service and support.
Without mentioning Cisco by name, Kelley talked about a new competitor sending out demos and lengthening the sales cycle. Sources say Cisco is also pricing its switches aggressively.
"The market is very competitive right now," says Kelley. "We certainly have a formidable competitor -- pricing at the end-user level as well as with our storage partners has come under a lot of pressure."
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