|
Enter Symantec |
In 2005, when IT security vendor Symantec Corp. acquired data storage vendor Veritas Software Corp. for $13 billion, experts wondered aloud how one technology would subsume the other. That question was answered this spring, when the company announced its new Symantec Protection Network and kicked it off with an online data backup service.
Although details on the new service were still sketchy, it was expected to debut this summer. The Software as a Service (SaaS) offering targets small and midsized businesses in North America with fewer than five servers. The service is based on Backup Exec System Recovery 7.0, a former Veritas product designed to facilitate and expedite Windows system recovery.
Ellen Hayes, a spokesperson for Symantec, says the new service is unique because it will enable service providers to offer a private-branded managed solution. She also notes that these providers can offer the solution as a full on-demand service or as a complement to existing Backup Exec installments.
Hayes declines to delve into pricing details on the new product. Nick Cellentani, vice president of storage consulting and operations at Adexis, an SSP that plans to sell the technology, says the Symantec service will be offered exclusively through partners and priced competitively.
"We need to be able to compete with the guys who have been doing this for a while," Cellentani says. "In this world of outsourced data backup, where you have companies charging $5 a month, you can't really charge an arm and a leg, or you'll be blown out of the water by someone else."
Symantec isn't the only major vendor jumping into online data backup; also this spring, fellow storage vendor EMC Corp. announced plans to get into the market. The vendor didn't offer details on when it would unveil its new product, nor did it indicate what the product would look like. Are vendors such as IBM and HP next in line? Stay tuned.
-- M.V.
|
The Cost Factor
No discussion of the pros and cons of outsourced data backup would be complete without a brief mention of pricing. Most CIOs acknowledge that outsourcing data backup costs more than their previous strategies. Still, they say the additional expense is worthwhile.
Standalone storage solutions are the priciest, since companies that opt for this approach must invest not only in the technology that controls the backups but also in the hardware that stores the data once it has been backed up. Some companies have been known to pay $50,000 or more for a comprehensive standalone storage solution. Prices vary depending on the data in question and the size and power of the servers to store it all.
Most SSPs also base pricing for midmarket customers on service level and storage capacity, charging fees for both basic services and per gigabyte (GB). According to Forrester Research Inc., the average price for these services is roughly $15 per GB per month.
There are variations. The service from SOS On-line Backup costs $95.70 a month for up to 50 GB of storage. A similar service from IBackup costs $49.95 a month. For small office/home office users, other products such as Carbonite and Mozy are even more affordable. For a single user, Carbonite costs just $50 per year, or $4.17 a month. Mozy, on the other hand, the service from Berkeley Data Systems, costs $4.95 but offers access to files from the Web.
Of course, you get what you pay for. A handful of the cheaper SSP services don't support files larger than 3 GB. Others fail to offer a 30-day version archive. Still others charge extra for private key encryption, and some don't offer it at all. For the money, Mozy seems to offer the greatest number of features. Not surprisingly, PC Magazine selected it as the editor's choice for remote backup in 2006.
At the end of the day, there's a data backup service for everyone. Given that vendors such as Symantec Corp. and EMC Corp. recently announced plans to enter the space (see "Enter Symantec," at right), price points will only get lower, making outsourcing a viable option for any CIO who wants to revamp backup plans, says Whitehouse of Enterprise Strategy Group.
"All things considered, outsourcing backup isn't really that much more expensive than backing up to tape, and there are tons of other benefits," she says. "Throw in a bunch of time and productivity savings and, at least for some companies, you can look at outsourcing and safely say it just might be a better thing."
Matt Villano is a freelance writer living in Half Moon Bay, Calif. Write to him at editor@ciodecisions.com.
|
 |
|
|
