In the wake of the announcement that 3Com is to bow out of the high-end networking market, Daryl Squara, product manager for Intel at Tarsus Technologies, a member of JSE-listed MB Technologies, comments that the scenario at Intel is almost a complete reverse.
"Intel has been on the acquisition trail in the networking arena for some time. Most of these acquisitions have primarily been aimed at building the strength of its e-commerce offerings in the networking arena," he says. As an example, Squara cites the 1999 acquisition of Shiva: "This product range is focused in the area of remote access and VPN solutions for WAN applications," he notes.
Intel has also recently introduced its high-end "Brewster" 6000 LAN switch, which offers increased versatility and density as it is chassis based. According to Squara, the Brewster has been introduced in order to compete with, amongst others, the CiscoCatalyst 5000 and Catalyst 6000 switches. "This is the very market that 3Com seems to be moving out of," he observes.
Intel is also developing briskly in the LAN environment, leading the market by bringing out 10/100/1000 autosensing technology in its network cards, hubs and switches. "This clearly indicates that Intel is here to stay in the networking arena, encompassing future technology into its already-established hub and switch products."
There has also been substantial development focused on Intel`s router range, with e-commerce again being the major driving force. "There are a number of new products on the horizon in this department, which will encompass some exciting technologies and features," continues Squara.
"In summary, Intel, by way of recent and planned acquisitions in the networking arena, definitely intends to become one of the top players in the networking market. It is building its strategy to provide the most versatile, complete networking product range available," he concludes.
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