CommVault and Microsoft expand relationship to offer Simpana Data Management with Windows Azure

CommVault today announced an expanded collaboration with Microsoft Corp. to offer a cloud storage capability that combines the power of Simpana software with the benefits and flexibility of storing data on the Windows Azure cloud platform. As data is expected to double every two years, organizations are grappling with flat budgets and costly primary storage that may contain up to 70 percent of infrequently accessed, stale data, said Sheila Childs, Research VP, Storage Technologies and Strategies, Gartner. The new offering provides enterprise organizations a simple, cost-effective solution to archive, index, search and access massive amounts of data for long-term retention and compliance.

This combined data management solution for Windows Azure offers up to 62 TBs of cloud storage capacity and the data and information management capabilities of Simpana 9 Express for a starting price of approximately $50,000. 

CommVault also announced that it has deepened its strategic alliance with Microsoft, expanding collaborative development and sales and marketing activities around the Windows Azure platform. This latest expansion of the long-standing collaboration will enable CommVault’s customers to benefit from the economies and flexibility of cloud computing on Windows Azure, including compute and storage on-demand. 

CommVault today announced collaboration with Microsoft to offer a cloud storage solution that combines the power of Simpana software with the cost benefits and flexibility of storing data on the Windows Azure cloud platform.

The new data management solution starts at $50,000 USD and includes up to 62TB of Azure cloud storage capacity and Simpana 9 Express Software to deliver archiving and backup capabilities for mid and large enterprises coping with massive amounts of data and long-term retention and compliance requirements.

CommVault Simpana software offers integrated source-side deduplication, data encryption and integrated reporting and chargeback capabilities. Simpana also supports backup, recovery and archiving for the full range of Microsoft application environments, including Microsoft Files, SharePoint 2010, Microsoft Exchange, Microsoft SQL Server and Windows Server 2008 R2 Hyper-V virtualization – both on-premises and in the cloud.

The solution will take advantage of the Windows Azure infrastructure and enable Simpana software to become a part of Windows Azure solutions developed by Microsoft and by third parties.

The new solution is avaialable in two configurations – 62 TB of non-geo replicated Azure Storage or 41 TB of Standard Azure Storage for $50,000 per year. Pricing scales up for larger configurations (e.g. $100,000 for 124TB NGR storage).

A Singular Solution for Managing Big Data in the Cloud 

Cloud data storage delivers compelling economics to any IT environment struggling with data management. Because cloud storage providers leverage multi-tenant architectures, infrastructure costs are shared across many users. This helps lower costs substantially versus on-site solutions, which require additional provisioning, power, cooling costs, and more.

CommVault’s next-generation Singular Information Management innovations empower Simpana® software customers to seamlessly leverage the cloud to lower data management costs, reduce business and compliance risks and easily extract data for better decision making with anywhere, anytime information access. 

N. Robert Hammer, Chairman, President and CEO, CommVault: “Big Data keeps getting bigger and enterprise IT organizations are in need of simple, cost effective solutions for storing and managing massive amounts of data over long periods of time. CommVault and Microsoft have worked closely to enhance the capabilities of the Windows Azure platform, while adding substantial value to Microsoft applications. This new level of collaborative focus on cloud computing will bring tremendous value to our customers.” 

Walid Abu-Hadba, Corporate Vice President of the Developer & Platform Evangelism Group at Microsoft: “Microsoft’s public and private cloud solutions help cover the spectrum of data center needs. CommVault has been adding value every step of the way, and it’s great to see such a strong on-premises company committing to Windows Azure.” 

Brian Babineau, Vice President, Research and Analyst Services, Enterprise Strategy Group: “According to our most recent IT spending intentions survey, 74% of organizations plan to increase spending on cloud computing services in 2012. We attribute much of this massive growth to innovative solutions, such as this data management offering from Microsoft and CommVault, that simplify the transition to the cloud.  While both companies have extremely robust technology underpinning the combined data protection and archive service, customers may very well adopt it because of the all-inclusive, predictable pricing model and ease of implementation.”