Asigra hails tablet and consumer strategy
Online backup provider jumps on the tablet PC bandwagon with latest release
Cloud provider Asigra has reworked its flagship online backup product to help partners tap into the tablet PC and consumer markets.
The vendor recently unveiled the latest version of its Asigra Cloud Backup offering, declaring it the first in the industry to protect data stored by enterprise users on smartphones and tablet devices.
The release also contains a new, consumer-focused PC client that can be deployed on any desktop or laptop, allowing Asigra partners to sell into the consumer space for the first time.
Ashar Baig, senior director of product marketing at Asigra, said: “Enterprise users are spending a lot more time accessing sensitive business data on tablets and smartphones, so it makes sense to extend our backup service to them.
“The consumer market is huge and is an area our managed service providers have been crying out for us to address for some time.”
On the consumer side, Baig said the aim is to wrest market share from industry stalwarts such as Mozy and Symantec Norton Online.
“There are already a lot of players in the market who do a great job of backing up data, but do not provide any assurances about being able to recover that data in an emergency,” he explained. “That is the difference we bring to the market.”
Jamie Brown, general manager at online backup provider LiveDrive, said the consumer market is a crowded place, and Asigra partners could struggle.
“Anyone moving into the consumer backup space now will need to have a compelling USP to compete on a large scale,” he explained.
“In addition, business users and consumers have different backup requirements. Consumers want a slick, reliable product that gets working quickly and they are less worried about guarantees and SLAs.”
Bob Tarzey, service director at analyst Quocirca, said that Asigra might be better off sticking with the B2B market, as there is very little margin to be had on the consumer side.
“Claiming to be the only provider that guarantees recovery is ridiculous, as who would want an online backup service that did not do that?” he asked.
“Besides, Google and Apple are set to dominate this space as consumers move to devices that are linked to their cloud services, therefore Asigra should stick to competing in the business space.”