Atempo, Nirvanix offer cloud-based file archiving |
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By Beth Pariseau, Senior News Writer
01 Jul 2008 | SearchStorage.co.uk |
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Atempo is hoping to drum up new business in the Storage-as-a-Service (SaaS) market for its Atempo Digital Archiving file archiving software through a partnership with cloud storage startup Nirvanix.
The partnership will allow joint customers to select Nirvanix's cloud storage interface as a storage container for files within Atempo Digital Archiving (ADA). Nirvanix's storage has been integrated as an option for ADA through the Nirvanix API, so customers don't need additional appliances to access the service, according to Karim Toubba, Atempo's vice president of marketing.
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This might be Atempo's first step before going all in with cloud-based offerings.
Lauren Whitehouse
analyst, Enterprise Storage Group
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Eventually, Atempo and Nirvanx plan to integrate licensing and automate enrolment for the combined service, but customers still need separate contracts with each of the companies. Atempo's Digital Archiving for Messages (ADAM) is also not yet integrated with Nirvanix.
The current partnership is just the first phase of the process. "Over time, we will be integrating more options and allowing for automatic enrolment," Toubba said. "But right now the market is in an investigation phase with cloud storage for archiving, and we wanted a first-mover advantage."
Atempo was slow getting into archiving but is trying to make up for lost time. It rolled out ADA in March, based on intellectual property acquired with Lighthouse Global Technologies. Atempo added email archiving this month with the launch of ADAM.
ADA and ADAM are among the few integrated email and file archiving software products on the market, along with Mimosa's NearPoint and Symantec's Enterprise Vault. Hewlett-Packard's Integrated Archive Platform and Hitachi Data Systems' Content Archiving Platform allow a mix of data in one hardware repository.
However, only Seagate's EVault has beaten Atempo to the cloud-based file archiving punch with InfoStage ArcWare. Symantec and Zmanda offer similar cloud storage options for backup.
Analyst Lauren Whitehouse, with Enterprise Storage Group, said she expects this to be "the first baby step" from Atempo toward a deeper foray into cloud-based offerings. As such, the hybrid model of using an Atempo server on-site, combined with a cloud service, will appeal mostly to existing Atempo customers. "This might be an easy first step before going all in with cloud-based offerings," she said. Atempo's Live Backup continuous data protection (CDP) and Time Navigator backup software are also candidates for the cloud.
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