Symantec to Stop Backup Exec Appliance

 An a blog of Symantec Corp., Drew Meyer, senior director, global product marketing, information management, wrote

Changes For The Backup Exec Product Line
October 2014 Update

Symantec shipped our first version of Backup Exec software (Backup Exec 10d) nearly 10 years ago to provide SMBs with fast and reliable data protection. One of our valued customers called the recent release of Backup Exec 2014 ‘the backup and recovery gold standard’ because it delivered the critical platform support he needed to protect both virtual and physical environments. Today we’re here to share some recent milestones and important updates about the Backup Exec product line going forward.

New Software for the Backup Exec 3600 Appliance
For Backup Exec 3600 appliance customers, Backup Exec 2014 software with requested support for Windows Server 2012 and Windows Server 2012 R2 is now available for you to download. You should have received access to it via FileConnect, but if you haven’t yet, please contact us via Customer Care.

Changes to the Backup Exec Appliance Product Line
After careful review of evolving market dynamics, we have made the decision to stop selling the Backup Exec appliance as of January 5, 2015. We believe we bring more value to our customers by designing quality Backup Exec software. Providing our partners with Backup Exec software that they can bundle with hardware and services best meets the needs of our small and mid-sized business customers looking for a combined offering. Symantec will continue building and delivering backup appliances to our enterprise customers and partners with the NetBackup 5000 series, 5200 series and brand-new 5330 appliance, which offers double the capacity and performance of our existing appliances.

As an example of how this approach is already working, Fujitsu currently offers their Fujitsu Storage ETERNUS BE50 appliance in Japan, which delivers Backup Exec software to customers on a Fujitsu-built integrated appliance and offers additional options to deliver a packaged solution for Backup Exec in European markets.

The decision to stop selling new Backup Exec appliances does not alter our commitment to existing Backup Exec 3600 appliance customers. We will continue to support you for the duration of your maintenance contract. As long as you’re on active maintenance, you are eligible for product updates and support until January 5, 2020. Please read the customer FAQ for more information on extending your maintenance contract and other specific details.

Continued Commitment to Backup Exec Software
We remain committed to developing Backup Exec software and to helping you solve challenges around virtual and physical backup and recovery. In fact, as a reminder, the first service pack update for Backup Exec 2014 was released a few weeks ago (in mid-September) and service packs will continue to arrive every 90 days through updates via FileConnect. Since releasing Backup Exec 2014 in June, we’ve seen over 350 unique installs per day – and have received positive praise from customers, partners and industry analysts alike.

What’s Next for Backup Exec Software?
The next version of Backup Exec is in development and slated for availability in the first half of next year. It will extend integration into virtualized environments and add new cloud connectors, like Amazon. Stay tuned to Connect where we’ll post updates and open up the beta test so you can get early hands-on.