TORONTO – Cloud backup, recovery and restore software provider Asigra Inc. used its annual Summit conference Tuesday to launch a new data protection appliance with value-added distributor Avnet Inc.
Asigra’s Converged Data Protection Appliance for Managed Service Providers is designed to help service providers enter the cloud backup market by offering cloud backup and disaster recovery services. The appliance allows Asigra’s backup and recovery software to be delivered as an integrated solution.
“The Asigra Converged Data Protection Appliance family disintermediates storage software stacks from expensive hardware, removing the cost and complexity of secondary storage systems,” said Eran Farajun, Asigra’s executive vice-president. “We have also engineered out the complications of storage system integration, troubleshooting, fixes, patches, installation, monitoring, maintenance and the requirements for skilled hardware and operating system staff.”
Avnet Embedded, part of Avnet’s Electronics Marketing Division, focused on providing embedded solutions such as storage, computing, software and networking products, will be packaging and shipping Asigra Appliances and providing hardware-related support.
“Avnet Embedded is working with Asigra leadership to accelerate Converged Data Protection Appliance delivery by leveraging our unique position as a global solution provider,” said John Salemme, vice-president and general manager, Avnet Embedded. “Through our relationship with Asigra, we are bringing together deep technology expertise to provide managed service providers globally with the advanced solution they need to quickly and reliably stand up their backup service infrastructure without undue complexity or costs.”
The appliance will include support for public, private and hybrid cloud deployment models, protect all customer data to a single scalable repository regardless of data source location, and integrate VM replication as well as mobile endpoint geo-location/remote wipe capabilities. General availability is scheduled for August.
In an interview with IT World Canada, Farajun said Asigra primarily goes to market through managed service providers, but businesses can also use the technology internally, in either a public, private or hybrid cloud depending on their business needs.
“It’s a very wide backup solution for everything from handhelds to desktop and laptop endpoints, to physical and virtual infrastructure and enterprise apps in the data centre to third-party clouds like Office 365 and Salesforce,” said Farajun. “It’s one user interface and repository for a wide spectrum of data types.”
That allows enterprises to meet their objective of simplifying their backup cocktail, working with one backup provider for different data types instead of different ones for virtual machines, and another for desktop/laptop and still another for the cloud.
Another key differentiator for Asigra is the way companies pay for it. The license is priced not on how much you back up, like most solutions, but rather how much (or how little) you recover.
“Organizations that don’t recover a lot of their data pay much less than organizations that recover a lot of their data,” said Farajun. “It’s like car insurance. You have to pay something for car insurance, but if you’re a good driver you pay less than a bad driver.”
The business value isn’t in backup, added Farajun. It’s in recovery.