CommVault Launches Enhancements to Simpana Data Management

CommVault, the company behind the Simpana storage management software, is announcing a slew of enhancements to its flagship product. These updates focus on reducing the cost and increasing the efficiency of data management and compliance requirements. I spoke to CommVault’s Jeff Echols, senior director of marketing, cloud strategies and alliances, about the new updates. Here are the details …

Short and sweet, here’s the list of enhancements:

• New Simpana OnePass: CommVault calls it an “industry first,” in which backup, archive and reporting have been merged; subsequently, the time needed to complete these tasks has been cut in half when compared to “traditional methods,” according to CommVault. This makes it easy for IT admins and VARs to get a lasso around what CommVault calls “too big” data systems.
• Simpana SnapProtect: Backup windows are a thing of the past with SnapProtect, which leverages hardware integration with SAN technology to provide super-fast recovery in “snapshot” form.
• New Simpana Edge Protection: Even if you’re outside the corporate network, mobile laptops (or desktops) now can be protected with reduplication technology. The ability for users to perform self-recovery from a web portal is now available, as is individual data management ability via iOS and Android.
• New Microsoft SharePoint Integration With Simpana 9: CommVault promises smaller backup windows and better overall performance.

Echols detailed a few other Simpana 9 features, including Microsoft Blob storage integration, VMware plug-ins for interacting with CommVault’s interface and Dell Lustre and HP IBRIX computability.

How does it all play into the channel? Echols said once partners and customers understand “the concept of a single converged process for backup, archiving and reporting” — wherein a user has to “touch data just once” — the demand for it will naturally follow. CommVault’s Simpana technology “is going to be much more prevalent as we go forward in time,” he said.

So why might a VAR pick CommVault over a competitor? Echols offered this factoid: “We’re the only data and information manager built from the ground up. We didn’t acquire anybody. All of our backup, archive and reporting share the same back end … same console. We have one one index that keeps track of all the information.” He added that MSPs looking to weigh the pros and cons of hosting storage solutions also may find considerable value in this unique Simpana approach.

If you want a deeper dive into Simpana technology, be sure to check out CommVault’s Simpana portal, or maybe more importantly, CommVault’s partner portal, here.