The SSD Review The Worlds Dedicated SSD Education and Review Resource | 
The Solid State Storage market is commanding much interest across a variety of applications and solutions. The technology provides clear advantages such as performance and power savings, however the landscape for suppliers remains grey. Who will be the winners, the losers, who will command the enterprise, the client, who will be bought and/or sold?
My name is Wayne Eisenberg and I recently departed SMART Modular Technologies, believing that a long break, perhaps even retirement was in my future. Who was I kidding? It’s pretty obvious that my golf skills will not qualify me for the Senior PGA Tour, so why not follow my passion, solid state storage?
Serving as SMARTs VP of WW Sales produced phenomenal storage experience in customer segments such as computing, storage, telecom, networking, industrial and defense, all of which consume this exciting technology, and we have just begun to scratch the surface.
So heres the deal . . . Les Tokar kindly invited me to introduce myself and ask you one question; what do you want to know? The SSD Review will become more meaningful to its readership if the subject matter that youre interested in is presented. Heres your chance, the Review looks forward to your input.
EDITORS NOTE:
I am speaking from the heart when I say that Christmas came early for The SSD Review. The knowledge and insight that Wayne Eisenberg brings to the team as an independent author, even if only for a short time, cannot be understated. I believe the combination of his executive level business experience coupled with his creative edge is sure to take more than a few off guard.
I invite all to challenge him with your questions, thoughts and ideas specific to solid state technology and the business as a whole. Feel free to throw in your comment(s) below which may lead to some great articles.
PROFILE
Wayne served as Vice President of Worldwide Sales and Marketing Communications at SMART Modular Technology from April 2002 until his retirement earlier this year and held other sales management roles at SMART since 1995. Wayne has also held various positions at other high technology companies including Toshiba America CSD, GRiD Systems and Harris Corporation. He holds a B.A. in Journalism with a minor in Business Administration from California State University at Chico.
Wayne has extensive experience in worldwide sales and international business development, an impressive record of achievement, and has lead sales in all customer segments “ OEM, Channel, and Enterprise “ and, has market and relationship successes in telecom, networking, storage, computing, industrial, and defense/aerospace.
Welcome Aboard Wayne!
Welcome to the “family”, Wayne!
You are in a better position that most to answer a question that comes to mind with the latest situation of “and then there were three” in the HDD business — acquisitions / consolidations.
Obviously, there are currently too many players in the SSD market, and as yet it is not quite resulting in as low of price points as one might expect with this much “competition”.
Who do you see as the “survivors’? Who do you see as the prime candidates for “acquistion” or maybe even “merger of equals”? Do you see any of the three remaining players in the HDD segment becoming a significant player in the SSD segment? Western Digital and Seagte both have development teams in SSD technology. Will they attempt to “fast track” their way into the market via the acquisition route?
Maybe you could team up with one of the contributors here for a “Q & A” article? (volunteering!)
Scot – Great questions and I would be happy to collaborate!