Iron Mountain and Microsoft in Cloud-Based Backup and Recovery Solution

Iron Mountain Digital, the technology arm of Iron Mountain, announced a strategic relationship with Microsoft Corp. to support organizations with the long-term protection and secure recovery of corporate data. Microsoft System Center Data Protection Manager (DPM) 2007 customers with Service Pack 1 are able to automatically backup their data to Iron Mountain Digital’s new backup and recovery solution, CloudRecovery, for short- and long-term, secure off-site storage. The cloud-based solution will be available to all DPM customers beginning early in 2009.  Companies who contract for the service by April 15, 2009, will receive 60 days of free service.

“Iron Mountain Digital and Microsoft are uniquely qualified to help customers manage and protect their data,” said John Clancy, president, Iron Mountain Digital. “Our strategic relationship with Microsoft combines their strengths in platforms and applications with Iron Mountain’s strengths in enterprise storage-as-a-service and disaster recovery — delivering customers a more cost-effective backup and archiving solution from vendors they can trust.”

Iron Mountain Digital’s CloudRecovery solution offers integration with Microsoft Data Protection Manager (DPM) through its user interface, providing automated, reliable backup and archive of DPM-protected data online – conveniently extending the capacity of the on-site DPM server. DPM customers can select data retention policies ranging from 30 days to 7 years and DPM will then send the data automatically and securely to Iron Mountain’s data centers for archiving.

By capturing data automatically and securely storing it offsite, the risk of losing data – even down to an individual file, can be eliminated. With this solution, customers can reduce the costs and risks associated with downtime and data recovery, and also meet compliance with policies and regulations by automating capture and long-term retention. The automated process also enables resources to be used to support key business initiatives, instead of labor-intensive procedures of managing secondary storage.

“As an extension to the enterprise capabilities System Center Data Protection Manager delivers, customers desire the ability to safely and securely store and manage their data online, off-site, and retrieve it as needed,” said Bala Kasiviswanathan, director of Storage Solutions Marketing for Microsoft. “Given their data management expertise and services orientation, Microsoft is working with Iron Mountain to provide customers with these capabilities in an integrated and cost-effective manner.”

“Hybrid approaches, which include some on-premise control of software and/or hardware coupled with off-premise services or infrastructure, are becoming popular to overcome data protection challenges and reduce storage costs,” said Lauren Whitehouse, analyst, Enterprise Strategy Group.  “Coupling Microsoft’s System Center Data Protection Manager with Iron Mountain Digital’s CloudRecovery service provides organizations with an optimal solution to help improve overall data protection effectiveness and offers a leading solution from two vendors who are trusted experts in their fields.”