Commvault just beefed up its Hedvig software-defined storage platform with new container features to work better with Kubernetes.

In its latest iteration, the Hedvig distributed storage platform has gained native Kubernetes API enhancements, according to the company. The updates allow customers to develop and run new applications with encryption and other data security tools in Kubernetes environments.

Commvault also announced its latest HyperScale X appliance and a new disaster recovery offering. The company made the announcements at its Commvault FutureReady 2020 virtual conference, held online due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

New features in the Hedvig distributed storage platform include integrated container snapshots and deep container migration tools. There are also integrated policy automation capabilities for granular control over snapshot and migration operations.

The new offerings redefine the company’s product portfolio, Don Foster, Commvault’s VP of storage solutions, told Channel Futures.

The integration of Commvault Hedvig in the latest HyperScale X appliance is big for customers and partners, he said. Commvault acquired Hedvig last October as an x86 software-defined distributed storage platform for the cloud or on premises.

The HyperScale X appliances completely integrate with Kubernetes and can help customers with migration, replication, cloning and more. That provides new opportunities for channel partners, said Foster.

Commvault’s Don Foster

“They can take all this and sell it together as a hyperscale appliance that leverages Hedvig,” he said. “They can talk to customers about how they can be leveraging Kubernetes.”

Broader Services and Sales

Commvault’s new disaster recovery product also offers partner opportunities for broader services and sales, said Foster. The standalone disaster recovery product integrates with Commvault’s existing data backup services. Customers can add it for less money than from competing disaster recovery vendors, he said. They can also use the new disaster recovery product on its own.

Christophe Bertrand, an analyst with Enterprise Strategy Group, said the latest Commvault Hedvig product moves show the company’s growing maturity.

“Commvault is an improved company from the past, and it features a focus on execution,” said Bertrand. “Their strategy of intelligent data management is where the market is going.”

ESG’s Christophe Bertrand

The integrations of the company’s Hedvig investments are big milestones for Commvault, he said.

“The integration is spot on, particularly in light of containers, which are critical to manage and protect today. This will be even more quintessential in the next few quarters.”

Bertrand also lauded the company’s separation of its disaster recovery and backup products to add granularity for channel partners.

“It’s a great way to penetrate new accounts and should improve competitiveness,” he said. “I expect a focus on service providers who will leverage the DR capability to build into their own offerings.”

With its announcements, the company is delivering in multiple areas with an eye on simplification, scalability, completeness, said Bertrand.

You can see that in the HyperScale X appliance, which is a “significant competitive threat in the scale-out hyperconverged space,” said Bertrand. “The focus is on backup today, and ransomware mitigation and remediation. But I see this platform becoming the path to intelligent data management use cases. Commvault is systematically executing on putting the components in place to go beyond backup/DR and serve new use cases.”