Axcient Brings Data Protection to Cloud for SMBs
Axcient is the latest provider of data protection technology that lets small and medium-sized enterprises use the cloud for disaster recovery and business continuity.
Though not a well-known company, Axcient supplies appliances that offer multiple levels of backup and recovery. Here's how it works: The customer pays a monthly fee for the appliances that consist of servers loaded with Axcient's software, storage and network infrastructure and are controlled by a Web-based interface. Files and data from both clients and servers can be backed up to the appliance, which also provides backup to the vendor's cloud-based facilities.
"We've built a platform that basically provides an SMB total access to data, regardless of what happens, total continuity and total disaster recovery," said Justin Moore, Axcient's CEO. The appliance, Moore explained, is the only component a customer needs to deploy. "It eliminates the need to install a single piece of software on the network," he said.
Moore said Axcient has 1,000 customers with 50,000 devices installed. While there are a number of players in this space, Axcient is looking to differentiate itself. It is hoping a partnership announced last week with Hewlett-Packard Co. will give it a more consistent hardware stack and access to the larger company's channel partners to extend its reach.
"We are not a hardware company, we are a software and Software as a Service platform, company," he explained. "Now our entire platform, from the on-premise appliance to our cloud compute infrastructure, is all going to be on HP's platform."
Enterprise Strategy Group senior analyst David Chapa, who published a report this month on the backup-as-a-service market, said linking with HP promises to give Axcient greater recognition in the market. "They are starting to make a name for themselves and the announcement of the HP relationship certainly will help with that awareness," Chapa said.
As part of the pact, Axcient will use HP's ProLiant SL and DL servers, StorageWorks and networking products. The current solution is designed to handle 20 terabytes of compressed data and can failover to seven such appliances. Pricing starts at $150 for a 250 GB implementation.
Data and server images are automatically replicated to Axceint's data centers, which the company says is SAS 70 II-certified.
Posted by Jeffrey Schwartz on February 24, 2011 at 11:58 AM