The march to appliances continues with a new entry in the field from Google. Google is releasing a new search appliance which packages their search technology into a closed box solution. To me, this signals the continuing of a trend started many years ago by the router vendors. As software solutions (like search) become commodities, IT shops become less interested in installing these solutions on existing hardware. The IT shop would rather have a complete solution that can be administered without interfering with their existing systems. It’s easier to install a new box than it is to install a new piece of software, more or less.

How does this relate to router companies like Cisco? Most folks probably haven’t thought about this in a long time, but the original routers were IBM and Sun workstations that ran routing software. As these systems became more widely distributed, companies like Cisco built boxes that just focused on routing to simplify the management of the router and make it easier to install.

I expect that we’re going to continue to see this trend emerge. More and more companies will be shipping their solutions in appliances like Google’s. Siebel in a box? Oracle in a box? The vendors will then get the opportunity to break out of the traditional platform installation concerns and build on whatever suits them (e.g. Google is built on Linux). As a result of this, we’ll see higher performance in these systems components — there will be some innovative hardware and operating system changes to make these products scream.