As mentioned, Code 42 provides an individual-based backup software tool called CrashPlan. Using it, an individual consumer or worker can back up to an external disk or even to a friend's PC over the Internet. And, yes, a person can pay for a hosted version of CrashPlan at a Code 42 data center. But that is not where Code 42 makes most of its money. Its business model is to use its CrashPlan Pro capabilities to provide enterprise data protection for desktops and laptops.
An organization can choose to work with Code 42 in different ways. With CrashPlan Pro, IT can back up individual devices to its own datacenter storage and servers, and users can recover their files without IT involvement. With CrashPlan hardware, an IT organization can install a hardware appliance on its own site that Code 42 continuously monitors remotely. PRO Cloud is a software as a service (SaaS) offering in which Code 42 actually hosts the backup data. Overall, this range of choices makes the product very flexible and attractive for a
range of scenarios.
So Code 42 offers a flexible and robust set of products and services, but how can it get away with its claim that it is the "most expensive" solution"? That would seem to contradict IT customers' continuing focus on lowering overall costs. Yet Code 42 has been growing rapidly and may enjoy close to a $100 million in revenues this year. Moreover, it has an A-list of client references, including Apple, Cisco, Google and Oracle. Although these companies are financially sound, they don't like to pay extra more than anyone else. So what is it about Code 42 that allows it to charge a premium price?
Code 42 is by no means the first or only player in the game of enabling IT to backup enterprise desktops and laptops. A number of companies have had products in this space for a while, including at least a few large vendors. But if competitive products are merely "good enough," then customers will focus on those that have the best (that is, lowest) price. However, if Code 42 provides features or functions that an enterprise needs that others do not match, then the competition simply cannot do the job. Some of the capabilities that differentiate CrashPlan solutions include:
--Multiple destinations for increased configuration choices: IT can run on Code 42's hardware, IT's hardware, Code 42's public cloud or IT's private cloud. That may sound easy, but it is actually very difficult as I/O channels vary greatly. Code 42 solved this problem by engineering a solution that evenly shares storage I/O across all users; this gives IT flexibility to choose an internal or external solution or a hybrid and to change when needed.
