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Watch out, IBM: Cisco prepares to launch new server business, Computerworld says

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IBM’s blade server business is about to get some new competition – from Cisco (nasdaq: CSCO). And EMC (NYSE: EMC) will be one of Cisco’s partners.

All three firms have strong connections in the Triangle, especially IBM (NYSE: IBM), with more than 10,000 employees.

Computerworld reported Wednesday that Cisco is expected to announce on Monday a “unified computing” initiative that includes blade servers. Blade servers feature multiple circuit boards known as blades.

The server is reportedly code-named California.

Much of IBM’s blade server business is based in the Triangle area.

EMC has two operations in the Triangle, including a major manufacturing plant and a research facility.

Cisco has a large campus in RTP.

The Cisco project is part of a strategy to move into the data center market through virtualization technologies. Virtualization enables servers and other hardware to support more than one operating system.

One analyst told Computerworld that Cisco has apparently created a "mini-network inside the blade servers ... and has done some things that the other guys like IBM and HP haven't considered."