​Cloud and DCI – Vendors with Different Definitions talk up DCI at Deutsche Bank Tech Conference

We attended the Deutsche Bank Tech conference this week and met with a ton of companies.  It is always interesting to see the difference in questions from investors vs. those directly in the industry.  During the conference, each company put spin and had different definitions of Data Center Interconnect (DCI) that helped address their specific portfolio.  This is very similar to the early Cloud days where every vendor and component manufacturer said they sold into the Cloud.  Fast forward to today, and very few vendors sell to the Cloud.  We see a similar end game with many suppliers being squeezed out of the DCI market as it matures.
 
The lack of clarity created confusion amongst the investors as they went from session to session and we think is a short term negative to the market.
 
We are very excited to have holistic DCI coverage.  One that looks at legacy approaches around Optical and the new approach of using switching and routing.  We are hopeful that the market will move towards one consistent definition of DCI as that will be better for the market itself and the suppliers in that market, but see that as unlikely as many vendors seem to be digging into a definition that is self serving and more focused on legacy products vs. what customers will want in the future.
 
We look forward to many future conversations on DCI.