Today's Gossip Thread: Brocade Deals

Storage networking specialist Brocade(BRCD Quote) may have some lucrative new partnerships up its sleeve, potentially increasing the pressure on rival Cisco(CSCO Quote).

Hewlett-Packard(HPQ Quote) already sells Brocade's Fibre Channel switches as part of what is known as an Other Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) deal. This partnership may now be expanded to include technology from Brocade's acquisition of Foundry Networks, according to Kaushik Roy, an analyst at Wedbush Morgan.

"We believe H-P may sign an OEM deal for Ethernet/Foundry products in the not too distant future," he wrote, in a note released Friday. Although H-P would have to avoid any overlap with its existing ProCurve products, Roy estimates that a deal could eventually be worth more than $100 million a year to Brocade.

The switch maker is certainly on something of a charm offensive. For example, Brocade recently strengthened its partnership with IBM(IBM Quote), clinching a new distribution deal for Internet routers and switches.

Wedbush Morgan's Roy also thinks that Dell(DELL Quote) may sign an OEM deal for all of Brocade's products in the near future, a move that could challenge Dell's existing partner EMC.

"It is well known that Brocade is trying all server vendors to sign an OEM deal for Ethernet products," he wrote, adding that Dell may even sign a deal for Brocade's Fibre Channel switches and its Host Bus Adapters, which connect servers to storage.

Brocade refused to comment on the possibility of these deals, although the firm has previously stated that it is evaluating its existing partnerships with a view to expanding its networking presence.