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The fiscal year that went by saw significant product launches across categoriesfrom x86 to Unix. The x86 volume segment kept pace with a moderate y-o-y growth. But the key challenge in the x86 category was to be able to sustain realization, as the average selling values (ASV) came under pressure.

Meanwhile, mission critical applications like core banking continued to drive the Unix-based server market. This segment has always been characterized by high value and low volumes, but over the year SMBs started adopting Unix, which in turn resulted in a volume ramp up. Consequently, the RISC-Itanium-Unix servers showed healthy growth.

x86: 64-bit Transition
The total x86 market during FY 07 stood at 107,244 units representing an annual growth of 8.7%. HP retained the category leadership position in this market segment in India with a 29% market share. HP also secured pole positions in the 1P, 2P and 4P sub categories with 22%, 32% and 50% market share respectively, within the x86 server class.

HPs market leadership was partly due to its comprehensive product portfolio that targeted SMBs as well as large enterprises. The vendor saw good demand from segments like Digital Content Creation (DCC) and signed up customers like Crest Animations, and JNCASR among others. The government sector also consumed HPs x86 offerings with state governments escalating their IT spending on various e-Governance initiatives.

The escalation of x86 to 64-bit gained further steam and an estimated 95% of the x86 shipments during the last fiscal were on 64-bit. Meanwhile, IBMs x86 offerings on System x-series got manifested in both Windows and Linux platforms. IBM delivered its x86 offerings on its Enterprise X-Architecture (XDA), which are 4-socket servers with enhanced memory and manageability features. Another feature of IBMs x86 servers was Power Executive that is aimed to enable users to balance system performance keeping in line with available input power.

For HCL Infosystems, the year that went by certainly saw its server offerings gain further momentum. HCL did major server deployments from across industry verticals, particularly government and BFSI. The central and state government e-Governance projects and education initiatives proved favorable for the company. In terms of applications in various functions, HCL saw significant deployments in cheque truncation solutions, core banking and branch banking functions, telecom VAS deployments and high-performance computing (HPC). With over 50 HPC installations in India, HCL Infosystems also emerged as one of the most prominent HPC system integrators in the country today.

HCL also launched an extensive range of entry level and mid-range servers during the last fiscal. To further increase its server penetration in upcountry markets, HCL created a complete distribution structure for class A and B towns in FY 07. For the emerging businesses, HCL launched an innovative IT infrastructure solution titled HCL Datacenter in a Box.

Dell also had a good year on the x86 servers front, and gained 10% market share in the enterprise segment for its x86-based offerings.

Sun Microsystems aggressively pitched its Sun Fire X4500 server, and termed it the worlds first hybrid data server combining a 4-way server powered by AMD Opteron processors. This server boasted highest storage density along with high data throughput. Sun positioned its X4500 for customers looking at demanding, high-bandwidth applications, such as HPC, data warehousing, business intelligence, digital media streaming, digital surveillance and data analysis.

Acer on the other hand approached the market with its Altos range that features leading dual core and Xeon configurations. Wipro pushed its x86 server offerings to large customers that have multi-location presence across the country. For instance, customers looking at solutions like dealer management, that typically involve a large breadth to remote areas of the country, have opted for Wipros NetPower servers. Wipro took a solution-centric approach. Wipro also emerged as a key player in the HPC space over the year with large deployments in academics and fundamental research.

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