Channel can aid backup adoption
Resellers can take data storage to the masses as backup is about to boom
The channel is in the best position to increase adoption of data backup, according to backup and storage vendor Vembu Technologies.
Sekar Vembu, chief executive of Vembu Technologies, said: “We believe that VARs, managed service providers, ISPs, system integrators and other IT resellers are in the best position to take data backup, especially remote backups, to the masses.
“They [the channel] already have a fundamental asset: their customers. This is important, because companies are, in effect, trusting someone with safekeeping their confidential data.”
The India-based vendor recently launched Vembu StoreGrid Service Provider edition, data-backup software that works with existing hardware. The vendor claimed that the software has been built for IT service providers looking to offer backup services for end-users.
However, Matt Childs, business development manager for automation products at storage distributor Hammer, told CRN that end-users are likely to be hesitant about taking on such a service from the channel until the market has matured.
“Currently remote backup is certainly a hot topic in terms of appliance sales, but the biggest problem is always who controls the data. There will always be some reticence in giving that control to VARs until a large brand name has started off the service,” he said.