In 2007, the storage system world had its share of relevant happenings. Isilon Systems went public at the end of 2006, heralding a new era in storage system value and setting the competitive stage for 2007. 3PAR, Compellent and Data Domain generated a ton of capital, gaining credibility with investors and removing risk concerns from customers' minds. Yet these four storage system vendors don't compete with each other. This tells you two things: The storage system market is very diverse and each company has a chance to become a category leader.

Another storage highlight in 2007 was Dell buying EqualLogic. This was more than just a big player acquiring an emerging storage vendor. Dell threw down a gauntlet when it bought EqualLogic, essentially saying "We'll own IP; we'll change our strategy; we'll be bold."