
Positioning in the Leaders quadrant is based on a company's ability to execute and its completeness of vision. Gartner describes midrange disk storage market leaders as having.
"The highest scores for their ability to execute and completeness of vision. A midrange disk array storage vendor in the Leaders quadrant has the market share, credibility, and marketing and sales capabilities needed to drive the acceptance of new technologies. They demonstrate a clear understanding of market needs; they are innovators and thought leaders; and, they have well-articulated plans that customers and prospects can use when designing their storage infrastructures and strategies. In addition, they have a presence in the five major geographical regions, consistent financial performance, and broad platform support."
EMC most recently demonstrated its ability to deliver innovation to customers with the introduction of the latest generation of its marketing-leading EMC CLARiiON family of networked storage systems, the CLARiiON CX4, in August 2008. The CLARiiON CX4 series offers customers a multitude of built-in features that are ideal for virtual server environments—including VMware infrastructure. The innovations built into the CLARiiON CX4 include Flash drives, more flexible connectivity, twice the performance of previous CLARiiON systems, virtual provisioning (also known as thin provisioning) and enhanced security. These features can dramatically reduce the total cost of ownership (TCO) by using less energy, improving storage utilization, improving price/performance, and streamlining management, while providing proven investment protection over multiple generations of platform technology.