Quest Software, the IT systems management company, has released a new data backup solution specifically for its SMB customer base. It’s called the Quest Software NetVault Backup Capacity Edition, and it comes less than a month after the IT management provider acquired BlueFolder, a cloud-based IT service management platform.

Quest’s goal is to provide an alternative to the per-server pricing model that Quest says many of its competitors are offering today. Instead, Quest will sell its NetVault Backup Capacity Edition both through the channel through a per-terabyte pricing model. That pricing model, according to Quest, will give its SMB customers the flexibility they need to stay within their budgets. Pricing starts at $2,700 per front-end terabyte. There is no additional charge for plug-ins.

So what are Quest’s SMB customers getting for their investment? Quest is offering a heterogeneous data protection software solution for both virtual and physical environments that can work across multiple platforms.

It sounds like Quest plans to target SMBs straight through the channel when it comes to its NetVault Backup Capacity Edition and other solutions. When I spoke with Quest Software executives recently, they maintained that the IT management software provider is “100 percent committed to the channel.” BlueFolder (to be rebranded as PacketTrap PSA) brought with it a niche following of managed services providers (MSPs) that Quest can now leverage as a means to target a larger SMB customer base. So look for more moves from Quest in the near future around attracting MSP partners and around the development of its PSA business.