The Forrester Wave™: Blade Server Systems, Q2 2009

In Forrester's 44-criteria evaluation of blade server system vendors, we found that HP and IBM lead the pack because of the maturity and breadth of their offerings. Dell is a Leader as well that debuted a greatly improved new chassis in 2008 and is building out a powerful suite of management software with its strategic partners. Sun Microsystems is another Leader, and its offering is the most unique, providing more-flexible network input/output (I/O) configuration and the most blades accommodating high memory configurations. Fujitsu's blade solution is a strong contender due to an emphasis on beefy configurations, myriad internal storage options, and a comprehensive set of free configuration, installation, and setup services. While HP appears as the clear Leader in the default weightings, other vendors are just as distinguished when alternative use cases are depicted by adjusting scoring weightings as shown in the second scenario this report presents. All blade systems provide customers with a highly optimized server solution that is much easier to manage than standalone rack servers; blade systems eliminate many components and cables and deliver significantly better power efficiency. Blades are an ideal match to server virtualization, as they maximize the IT consolidation and flexibility benefits of this technology. There's no bad choice among these competitors.