CLOUD

Engenio Information Technologies, Inc., a global provider of innovative and highly scalable modular storage systems for the open enterprise, and AppIQ, Inc., a leading provider of software solutions that enable data storage to be managed as a business-focused IT utility, today announced that the two companies will co-develop Storage Area Network (SAN) management solutions that initially focus on the key area of optimizing the performance of the entire SAN, from host server to storage system. The result will be an industry-leading performance management solution with unprecedented capabilities for diagnosing SAN performance and availability issues. With the number of storage devices and the amount of data that needs to be managed growing at unprecedented rates, having a fast, easy way to diagnose the root cause of SAN performance problems has become essential for IT organizations. The SAN performance management solution co-developed by AppIQ and Engenio will give IT professionals real-time and historical information on both physical and logical SAN components. The software will provide a consolidated view of multi-vendor SAN infrastructure, including host servers, host bus adapters (HBAs), fabric switches, and Engenio storage systems, and will monitor and measure the status and performance of all resources to ensure the continuous availability of data. "This partnership makes a lot of sense for both companies," said John Webster, senior analyst and founder, Data Mobility Group. "Engenio will be able to quickly enter the market with scalable, differentiated storage performance monitoring solutions that go beyond simple element management to provide the big picture view of the entire SAN, including path isolation and historical trending as well as host, switch, and array performance statistics. The benefit to AppIQ is another top-tier OEM distribution channel and a unique management offering for Engenio OEM partners and their customers." "This announcement with AppIQ adds another important dimension to Engenio's expanding software portfolio," said Ron Engelbrecht, Engenio Vice President of Worldwide Engineering and Operations. "Engenio's partnership with AppIQ enables us to develop and provide our OEM partners and their customers with innovative and state-of-the-art performance monitoring solutions. The joint efforts are intended to deliver clearly differentiated, standards-based software that enables enterprises to maximize the performance and business value of their SANs." AppIQ offers the industry's most comprehensive, integrated SAN management and storage resource management software that simplifies storage operations, automates repetitive administrative tasks and makes storage resources available to applications on an as-needed basis. Engenio designs and manufactures a complete line of modular storage systems and their components, including storage controller modules, disk drive enclosures and storage management software. The companies have worked closely for several years as leaders in the adoption of the Storage Management Initiative Specification (SMI-S). "Our relationship with Engenio gives us another important distribution channel, as well as unique performance management capabilities that demonstrate how AppIQ and its partners continue to set the pace for SAN management innovation," said Ash Ashutosh, senior vice president and chief technology officer, AppIQ. "AppIQ technology is in demand as the preferred management solution for almost half of the external disk array market. Our partner-centric business model has us well on our way to becoming the de facto standard for simplifying and automating the management of enterprise storage infrastructure."