AMD flags server upgrade opportunity

AMD is looking to the channel to support its push in the server market as the firm looks to challenge for market share and disrupt the status quo.

The vendor is making a pitch at a moment when there are significant numbers of ageing servers out in the market, because there has not been a compelling reason to upgrade them.

Jerry Gadbois, worldwide server channel management at AMD, said that it had been working with the channel for years to make sure that when it did bring a product to market, in the form of EPYC last year, it knew that it would be delivering a product that ticked partner boxes.

"We have momentum in the channel and we have been listening to our partners," he added "We have sat down with them to understand what they are looking for from a hardware vendor."

He highlighted the upgrade opportunity as one that its partners needed to be focused on because customers were sitting with old technology.

"You add the security vulnerabilities that we have had this year with Spectre and meltdown at the start of the year and Foreshadow more recently. The opportunity to upgrade because you have ageing, and possibly a vulnerability, is getting the mindshare of many IT executives," he said.

Gadbois said that IDC has put the size of the prize at 6.5m two-socket servers that are ready to be refreshed in the next 12 months and that resellers were reporting back confirming the opportunity was widespread.

"The time is now because there is a security issue and there is ageing equipment, which has gone from 3.5 to 5 years, with that performance is decreasing and the cost is increasing," he added This is a $44bn opportunity and that is huge."

AMD is providing partners with the tools that will unlock some of that revenue to be able to provide customers with quotes and TCO calculators. There have also been plenty of customers concerned about the highly publicised Spectre and Meltdown issues and more the firm is making sure that resellers have the answers on that front.