IBM and Compaq have agreed to team together to make their storage networking interoperate, in a deal intended to cut other players, such as HP, but especially EMC, off at the gulch.

The deal will mean that both players will sell and market products from each other's portfolio.

Compaq will use Big Blue's Shark enterprise storage servers and Tivoli system management software.

IBM will use Compaq StorageWorks modular array storage systems and also Q's VersaStor technology.

The companies will also entertain each others' customers at each others' technology storage centres. ®