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Contents 
Introduction
A changing market
The appliance-making appliance
Do they really scale?
The ease-of-use myth
Walking the appliance road
Taking a holiday from spam
What about the disks? |
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These steps represent considerable and welcome evolution of appliances, yet the fact that these steps are even necessary highlights their immaturity.
"Like any new tech in its early days, appliance can be sold on a single value proposition," WatchGuard's Radavics says.
But Radovics feels it is not immaturity but over enthusiasm which is the greater barrier to the success of appliances.
"The business model needs to be there to support an appliance-computing model," he says. "What I get concerned about is people who get sold on the appliance strategy and change the IT strategy to meet the limitations of appliances."
Buyers will also need constand reminding of the fact that that the lower maintenance requirements of an appliance do not necessarily translate into less complex purchasing decisions or planning requirements.
Organisations will have to contemplate how appliances can become a part of their overall IT diet. Just as a diet comprised of variations on a single recipe would struggle to meet your nutritional needs, today's appliances cannot satisfy all of a business' computing needs.
The abilities of appliances may appear to be improving with every passing month -- for the foreseeable future anyway. This means that appliances, while they seem certain to be on the menu at the moment, still have some way to come before becoming a staple part of the computing diet.
