CA sells Arcserve data protection unit
Marlin Equity Partners takes data protection arm off CA's hands for undisclosed amount
CA Technologies is getting out of the data protection business. The New York-based software company announced the sale of its ArcServe unit to Marlin Equity Partners, which will form a new standalone company to compete in the crowded backup segment.
The terms of the deal were not disclosed, but are expected to close sometime this summer.
"We are very pleased with this transaction, and look forward to a seamless transition for our customers, partners and ArcServe employees," said Jacob Lamm, executive vice president of strategy and corporate development at CA.
"CA continues to sharpen its focus and actively manage its portfolio, divesting non-core assets and making investments in areas of core capability. This transaction also further refines our global partner strategy as we continue to build CA for growth."
Under Marlin, ArcServe will continue to market data backup and recovery, discovery and protection software solutions to end users, and sell through resellers and managed service providers.
"We are committed to providing the strategic and operational support necessary to create long-term value for ArcServe and look forward to working closely with CA Technologies through the transition," said Marlin vice president Michael Anderson.
ArcServe has long stood as an alternative to market leader Symantec and its NetBackup data protection and backup products. While considered a good product set, ArcServe has struggled to maintain awareness and relevancy in a market that is increasingly turning to alternative cloud providers for data backup and protection solutions.
Under CA, the ArcServe strategy was twofold: sell software solutions direct and indirect to enterprises for backup and recovery needs, and sell software to managed service providers to deliver the technology as a service. These models were once the only means for delivering backup solutions. Today, companies like Symantec, CA, Acronis and StorageCraft - which have limited cloud options - are increasingly being disrupted by new entrants built around cloud services.
Symantec, which still retains the majority of the backup software market share, tried offering cloud services based on its NetBackup and Backup Exec products. However, these services failed to capture any real market traction and Symantec has been steadily shutting down cloud backup, data assurance and file sharing services.
CA says the sale of ArcServe is part of a strategy to divest of non-core products. Over the last five years, CA has made a concerted effort to develop a cloud strategy, in which it provides the management platform and security for cloud service providers and enterprises operating private clouds. ArcServe doesn't fit neatly in that model.
ArcServe is the second CA division to be spun off as a standalone company. In 2011, CA spun off its Internet Security Business Unit to venture capital firm Updata Partners, which formed a new security company, Total Defense. The new security company continues to operate well, but hasn't evolved to crack into the top tiers of the security sector against companies such as Symantec, Intel Security (McAfee), Sophos and Kaspersky Lab.
The larger question is what other non-core products and technologies could CA decide are no longer good fits for its grand strategy. Outside of the core cloud products sit such technologies as Orchestra data loss prevention, ITKO code integrity checking and Nimsoft service monitoring products. CA is also one of the largest mainframe software and management technology vendors in the world.
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