Tape market remains viable option for VARs

he much maligned market is worth $1.4bn and growing, according to Overland Storage

Tape remains a fast-growth market that holds rich opportunities for resellers, vendor Overland Storage has asserted.
The vendor has claimed companies are continuing to invest in tape because it is reliable and removable.
Peri Grover, director of tape at Overland, said: “Tape being dead is one of the biggest misconceptions of all time. The tape market is worth $1.4bn (£687m) and the mid-market, in particular, is continuing to grow at a rapid rate.”
Chris James, marketing director at Overland, said: “Backup should be looked at as a subject. If a customer wants to archive their photos, they do not want something complicated. Tape may be boring, but it is cost-effective, can be taken off-site and is guaranteed to work.”
Overland, which provides both tape and disk, launched a partner programme last year (CRN, 16 January 2006) with 600 registered users. Twelve months later, it has amassed 1,500 partners.
Grover added: “Overland continues to refresh its tape product lines. Other vendors, such as IBM, also
continue to invest in tape. Vendors would not invest in technology if it were a dying breed.”
Peter McNamara, tape sales manager at IBM, said: “A strong market is one of the reasons why IBM provides tape demonstrations, showing how much information can be stored. In 2006 we had a demonstration of to show storage of up to 8TBs, which should be available in the next seven to eight years.”
Mike Lawrence, managing director at reseller Bentpenny, agreed: “There is still a huge demand for tape, especially in SMEs and single-server companies.”
Steve Derbyshire, business development director at reseller NEC Philips Union Solutions, said: “Disk can hold more data, however, some firms cannot afford the bandwidth.
“It is better to use disk daily and use tape backup once a week.” However, Claus Egge, analyst at IDC, disagreed: “Tape is not showing as much growth as it used to. It has had a new lease of life thanks to virtualisation, but it still is not as popular as it used to be.”
VARs offered rewards