StorageTek seizes Storability

Lifecycle management capability play

A week or two ago witnessed yet another consolidation in the storage sector when StorageTek bought Storability to further strengthen its information lifecycle management (ILM) offerings. In a transaction for which the financial details were not revealed, StorageTek purchased the assets of Storability Software.

StorageTek has been active on many fronts over the last year and the acquisition of Storability covers all of the company’s intellectual property, existing software license agreements and customer contracts. Under the terms of the agreement it is expected that approximately 70 employees will join StorageTek.

Storability is best known for its Enterprise Storage Resource Management (ESRM) solutions. The company’s Global Storage Manager (GSM) software enables customers to visualise and optimise multi-vendor data storage environments and reduces total cost of ownership. The recently announced GSM V4 is designed to add sophisticated business analytics that can transform data into “actionable” information.

The move is a logical step for StorageTek as it seeks to add to its lifecycle management capabilities, especially as the two organisations have been working together for over two years. Indeed, StorageTek had previously acquired (in July 2002) Storability’s Storage Operations Center (SOC) and launched its Remote Managed Storage service.

The GSM software is a solution focussed on the administration and management of storage assets in a business service management fashion; in effect BSM for storage. GSM provides a central view of storage components, including online and near line storage, network fabrics and switches, databases and backup applications.

Tim Leisman, President and CEO of Storability, said: “This acquisition is a natural extension to the relationship we have developed with StorageTek over the years. By combining the power of the Global Storage Manager offering with the power of StorageTek’s customer relationships and global services capabilities, we believe we have created a smart solution for companies seeking to get greater productivity and better returns on their IT investments.” He added: “We know that today’s transaction will benefit enterprise customers as StorageTek expands its ILM product offerings.”

StorageTek is one of the most widely recognised brands in the storage arena, yet many IT professionals today lack clarity on the full range of areas in which the company operates today. This lack of awareness leaves StorageTek on a mission to raise the visibility of its solutions, not simply in the tape space where its capabilities are well known, but in ILM and in the increasing range of Global Services.

StorageTek needs to be more forceful in promoting its software capabilities, and the acquisition of Storability certainly delivers a good platform from which to shout. The software solutions that StorageTek now possesses, especially around ILM and its strong service delivery capabilities, provides the company a suite of offerings. Now it needs to promote them vigorously.

Watch out for more from StorageTek.

Copyright © 2004, IT-Analysis.com

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