Are we on the brink of complete hardware commoditization?

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Some will say hardware commoditization is here. The hardware I speak of, in general, is the computer components that make up compute, network and storage. I liked the tweet sent by John Troyer founder of TechReckoning a couple days ago. The tweet is shown below.

One correction that John admitted was a typo is with the word commodification, which instead should be commoditization. To summarize the difference commoditization is about proprietary things becoming generic, whereas commodification is about non sale-able things becoming sale-able. I think his answer to the question of complete hardware commoditization would be no and I would concur.

100% hardware commoditization is too final

Saying something is complete is to final for an area of technology that has room for vast improvement. The industry will continue to push the boundaries of technology but the consumer wants standardization. Wide spread consumer adoption depends on standardization and some level of commoditization. While I agree that complete hardware commoditization is a misnomer, hardware commoditization is here and prevalent. Most of the computer components that make up todays servers, storage and network systems consists of everyday off the shelf stuff that can easily be produced by any number of vendors.

Note: Just because a product commoditizes does not mean that it is a commodity.

It’s the software that counts.

The hardware is important but software is king! When the hardware becomes less important software and/or services is how you differentiation yourself as a solution provider. Virtualization, Cloud Computing, Software-Defined and Containerization are just a few technologies rendering the hardware layer somewhat unimportant to the consumer.

I did “NOT” say hardware is unimportant. If your still saying, “I use vendor x’s servers because they’re so much better than vendor y’s” your thinking may be in the wrong place but I’m a bit off topic.

New hardware technologies on the horizon

Hardware is once again going to drastically change in the coming years. Here are a few technologies that I think will change things moving forward.

I’m certain some may have a difference of opinion with the statements I’ve made. And if you’ve read this far I welcome you to post your feedback or comments.