CommVault And Microsoft Expand Relationship

CommVault systems, Inc. announced
an expanded collaboration with Microsoft Corp. to offer a cloud storage
capability that combines the power of Simpana software with the benefits and
flexibility of storing data on the Windows
Azure cloud platform.

"As data is expected to double every two
years, organizations are grappling with flat budgets and costly primary storage
that may contain up to 70 percent of infrequently accessed, stale data,"
said Sheila Childs, research VP, Storage
Technologies and Strategies, Gartner. "The
new offering provides enterprise organizations a simple, cost-effective
solution to archive, index, search and access massive amounts of data for
long-term retention and compliance."

CommVault also announced that it has deepened its strategic alliance with
Microsoft, expanding collaborative development and sales and marketing
activities around the Windows Azure platform. This latest expansion of the
long-standing collaboration will enable CommVault’s customers to benefit from
the economies and flexibility of cloud computing on Windows Azure, including
compute and storage on-demand.

The new data management solution starts at $50,000 USD and includes
up to 62TB of Azure cloud storage capacity and Simpana 9 Express Software to
deliver archiving and backup capabilities for mid and large enterprises coping
with amounts of data and long-term retention and compliance
requirements.

Simpana software offers integrated source-side
deduplication, data encryption and integrated reporting and chargeback
capabilities. It also supports backup, recovery and archiving for the
range of Microsoft application environments, including Microsoft Files,
SharePoint 2010, Microsoft Exchange, Microsoft SQL Server and Windows Server
2008 R2 Hyper-V virtualization – both in the cloud.

The solution will take advantage of the Windows Azure infrastructure
and enable Simpana software to become a part of Windows Azure solutions
developed by Microsoft and by third parties.

The new solution is available in two configurations – 62 TB of
non-geo replicated Azure Storage or 41 TB of Standard Azure Storage for $50,000
per year. Pricing scales up for larger configurations (e.g. $100,000 for 124TB
NGR storage).

Cloud data storage delivers economics to any IT
environment struggling with data management. Because cloud storage providers
leverage multi-tenant architectures, infrastructure costs are shared across
many users. This helps lower costs versus on-site solutions, which require
additional provisioning, power, cooling costs, and more.

CommVault’s next-generation Singular Information Management
innovations empower Simpana software customers to leverage the cloud to lower
data management costs, reduce business and compliance risks and extract data
for better decision making with anywhere, anytime information access.

N. Robert Hammer, chairman, president and CEO, CommVault, said: "Big Data keeps getting bigger and enterprise
IT organizations are in need of simple, cost effective solutions for storing
and managing massive amounts of data over long periods of time. CommVault and
Microsoft have worked closely to enhance the capabilities of the Windows Azure
platform, while adding substantial value to Microsoft applications. This new
level of collaborative focus on cloud computing will bring tremendous value to our
customers."

Walid Abu-Hadba, corporate VP of the Developer & Platform
Evangelism Group at Microsoft, said: "Microsoft’s
public and private cloud solutions help cover the spectrum of data center
needs. CommVault has been adding value every step of the way, and it’s great to
see such a strong on-premises company committing to Windows Azure."

Brian Babineau, VP, Research and Analyst Services, Enterprise
Strategy Group, said: "According to
our most recent IT spending intentions survey, 74% of organizations plan to
increase spending on cloud computing services in 2012. We attribute much of
this massive growth to innovative solutions, such as this data management
offering from Microsoft and CommVault, that simplify the transition to the
cloud. While both companies have extremely robust technology underpinning the
combined data protection and archive service, customers may very well adopt it
because of the all-inclusive, predictable pricing model and ease of
implementation."