Over 18 months ago, when EMC and Cisco created a joint venture (with some involvement from VMware and Intel), there was talk of hardware (the Vblock which includes Cisco’s then new UCS server), management software and even the joint support; but the purpose of the endeavor was to deliver new ITaaS solutions for both enterprises and service providers. Over the first year, there were a number of changes made to the business model, switching from what was essentially a reference model that could be assembled by VARs and SIs to single-SKU offerings that would be shipped from The VCE Company. A services option, “Acadia”, that would build, operate and transfer the solution was dropped, reducing potential competitive friction with service providers who are a primary customer base. Now at over 900 employees, the significant investment in the VCE model has come under question by some. The investments by EMC and Cisco in VCE are a bet on the future of IT that is high stakes/high return. This is not a little 3-month project, but a strategic move to pivot toward the next transformation of IT that will deliver billions of dollars of hardware and services.