eFolder, Dell AppAssure Expand DRaaS Partnership

eFolder is expanding its partnership with Dell AppAssure to let any Dell customer choose the eFolder DRaaS (disaster recovery as a service) infrastructure and cloud for their replicated backup images. The service provides Dell AppAssure customers with another cloud recovery option in the event of a disaster or system failure. Here are the details.

First, a little background. The eFolder, AppAssure relationship is not a new one. It goes back to before the Dell acquisition of AppAssure in February 2012. AppAssure provided Dell with backup and application recovery software, with an emphasis on VMware and Microsoft Hyper-V environments, technology Dell needed to add to its portfolio. Back then AppAssure was very MSP and channel focused, but since the acquisition, Dell has brought the technology to other sales channels, too.

As a channel-focused company, eFolder started working working with AppAssure long before the Dell acquisition. eFolder supplied the cloud backup infrastructure for the recovery of AppAssure images back then, too.

eFolder, AppAssure partnership’s roots

“That’s still a huge part of our business,” eFolder Marketing VP Ted Hulsy told me.

The new thing for eFolder with this extension of the existing arrangement is that when Dell takes AppAssure to sales channels, it will offer any Dell customer the ability to purchase capacity in the eFolder cloud. This should have particular appeal to midmarket customers who are consolidating their data centers.

Direct from the press release, here’s a list of the benefits now available to Dell customers via the eFolder DRaaS cloud replication and disaster recovery service for Dell AppAssure backup images:

• Replication of Dell AppAssure backup images to the eFolder Cloud for total infrastructure protection
• Multiple recovery options, including cloud-based recovery, minimizing downtime in the event of an everyday or site-wide disaster
• Compliant data centers and military-grade security, exceeding industry standards

eFolder said in a statement that the release of eFolder DRaaS “further establishes eFolder as a leading cloud replication and disaster recovery provider for Dell business continuity products.”

eFolder first announced a technology partnership with Dell in 2012 to offer eFolder BDR for AppAssure, a disaster recovery service for Dell AppAssure backup images that is sold by eFolder exclusively to IT service providers. eFolder BDR for AppAssure continues to be available to Dell and eFolder partners that utilize a managed services business model.

Now the model is expanded to additional channels.

“Dell AppAssure helps thousands of businesses protect their critical data, whether it is stored on virtual machines, physical servers, or in the cloud,” said Paul Davis, director of data protection product management at Dell Software, in a prepared statement. “Thousands of AppAssure customers already choose to replicate their AppAssure data to the eFolder cloud, and we are delighted that this joint solution is expanding to make turn-key cloud DR even more accessible for AppAssure customers.”